We Can Tolerate Anything but a Word against Nabi: Rajasthan Muslim Cleric Arrested For Threatening Violence over Prophet Remarks
New Age Islam News Bureau
02 July 2022
Rajasthan: Muslim cleric arrested for threatening
violence over Prophet remarks (Photo: Screengrab)
-----
• Samsung Pakistan Blasphemy Row: Mob Alleges ‘WiFi
Device’ Insulted Prophet, 27 Employees Held
• Muslim Organizations Based in Malaysia Launch
Campaign to Combat Islamophobia
• Hibatullah Akhundzada, Taliban Chief Slams Foreign
'Interference' in His 'Islamic' Governance
• 'Nupur Sharma Should Never Apologise, She Is Not
Responsible for Udaipur': Geert Wilders after India’s SC Remark
India
• Supreme Court: “Nupur Sharma Faces A Security Threat
Or Has Become A Threat To The Security Of The Nation?
• Amarnath Yatra: Kashmiri Muslim, Ghulam Nabi Malik
Recalls The Bond His Family Shares With The Holy Cave
• After SC's rebuke to Nupur Sharma, Delhi Police says
she was questioned on June 18
• Govt asks social media firms to remove all content
that justify Udaipur killing
• Udaipur killing: Case filed against organisers of
Gurugram rally for raising hate slogans
• Udaipur murder accused filmed act for ISIS, NIA to
seek custodial remand
• Indian police arrest ‘masterminds’ behind murder of
Hindu tailor: Officials
• ‘This Taliban incident’ was not reaction, but result
of a belief system: RSS
• NIA court sentences 5 SIMI members to 3-7 years' RI
in 2014 Bijnor blast case
--------
Pakistan
• Udaipur Killing: Dawat-e-Islami, Pakistan’s
Sunni-Barelvi Muslim Organisation, Not Linked To Any ‘Act of Terror’
• Sidhu Moosewala's photo appears on election
hoardings in Pakistan
• Outrage after reports of attack on senior journalist
Ayaz Amir in Lahore
• CTD inspector martyred in attack on checkpoint in
South Waziristan
--------
Southeast
Asia
• Special Taskforce on Jihad against Inflation to
Encourage Sales Campaigns
• Tajuddin just wants to embarrass Umno, says Puad
• Indonesia and United Arab Emirates reach trade pact
--------
South
Asia
• ‘Homelessness’ threatens thousands of Afghans amid
cruel Taliban regime
• 'Taliban's re-emergence not reactionary; country
needs to be watchful'
• Taliban chief pardons members of former
administration in rare public appearance
• Pakistan-backed war criminal gets death in
Bangladesh
• Taliban hikes price of coal that Pakistan wants to
import, shows who pulls the strings
--------
Europe
• Berlin mosque flies rainbow flag in support of LGBTQ
community
• Berlin-based news website reveals real face of
YPG/PKK terror group
• Sweden '100% behind' NATO accession agreement with
Türkiye: Premier
• Daesh ‘Beatle’ tells victim’s daughter her father
asked executioners to make his death ‘quick’
--------
Arab
World
• Extreme Sixth Century Droughts in Arabia Linked To
Rise of Islam, Report Says
• Over 30 governments gather to discuss Hezbollah’s
‘ongoing global terrorist’ plots
• Wings clipped for Lebanon’s soaring emigration as
passport renewal process slows
• Syria not part of consultative meeting in Lebanon,
says Arab League chief
• Bahrain’s Al Khalifah regime bans Shia visits to
Iraq, Syria
• Syrian army checkpoint intercepts US military convoy
in oil-rich Hasakah
• Islamic State group militants seize SDF weapons
depot in northern Syria
--------
Mideast
• UN Envoy: Iran Calls for Multilateral Diplomacy to
Remove Unlawful Sanctions
• FM: Iran Supports Political Solution to Ukraine
Crisis
• FM Asks for Iraq's Further Cooperation to Facilitate
Iranian Hajj Pilgrims
• Five killed at strong earthquake rocks Iran: Media
• Iran nuclear talks likely to resume after Biden’s
Gulf trip
• Turkey can re-export Black Sea grains to states in
need: Erdogan
• Erdogan says no meeting until Greek PM ‘pulls
himself together’: Report
--------
Africa
• Muslim MPs, Leaders Condemn Sale of Pork near Muslim
Burials
• Nigeria: Quran translated to Igbo language
• Nigeria Islamic court sentences three to death by
stoning for raping boys
• Sudan security forces skirmish with demonstrators
after protest deaths
• Protesters break into Libya’s parliament building in
Tobruk: Witnesses
• President Muhammadu Buhari vows to obliterate
terrorists after 43 people killed in north central Nigeria
--------
North
America
• Biden To Honour Khizr Khan, Who Lashed Out At Trump's
'Muslim Ban'
• Palestinians pin scant hope on President Biden visit
after setbacks under Trump
• Arab Americans losing major benefits from US Census’
‘discriminatory’ exclusion
• Turkey blocks access to Deutsche Welle and Voice of
America
• UN report highlights crippling impact of 15 years of
Israel's Gaza siege
Compiled by New
Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/tolerate-blasphemy-nabi-muslim-cleric-violence/d/127388
--------
We Can Tolerate Anything but a Word against Nabi:
Rajasthan Muslim Cleric Arrested For Threatening Violence over Prophet Remarks
Rajasthan: Muslim cleric arrested for threatening
violence over Prophet remarks (Photo: Screengrab)
-----
July 1, 2022
A Muslim cleric from Rajasthan's Bundi, who threatened
to gouge out eyes of those who insult Prophet Muhammad, has been arrested by a
team of the Bundi Kotwali police station.
Heavy police force has been deployed in the Kotwali
police station premises following Muslim cleric, Maulana Mufti Nadeem, arrest.
Earlier, Maulana Mufti Nadeem said, “You can abuse me,
I will tolerate. You can abuse my father, I will tolerate it. You can abuse my
family, I will tolerate it. But if you speak even a word against my Nabi, your
tongue will be cut."
He continued saying that "If you raise your hands,
they will be chopped. If you raise your finger, it will be chopped. Even if you
raise your eyes, we will gouge the eyes and throw them away. After that, you
can throw us in jail or do a lathi-charge, we will tolerate it. But we cannot
tolerate a word against Nabi.”
Prophet Remarks Controversy:
Towards the end of May, Nupur Sharma, then a
spokesperson for the ruling BJP, commented on Prophet Muhammad during a TV
debate, sparking a massive outrage globally. As the clip from the debate went
viral, at least 14 nations, including Qatar, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, slammed
India over the comments.
The BJP, in an attempt to control the damage, had
suspended Nupur Sharma and Naveen Jindal from the party.
Source: India Today
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
--------
Samsung Pakistan Blasphemy Row: Mob Alleges ‘WiFi
Device’ Insulted Prophet, 27 Employees Held
Protests erupted in Karachi against Samsung on Friday.
(Photo: Screengrab)
----
JULY 02, 2022
There was unrest reported outside Star City Mall in
Pakistan’s Karachi after a violent mob alleged that ‘WiFi devices’ inside the
mall allegedly played comments against the companions of Islamic religious
figure Prophet Muhammad.
The mob then targeted global telecommunications giant
Samsung, accusing it of blasphemy and then proceeded to vandalize its
billboards. The police also detained at least 27 employees of a mobile phone
company.
“Samsung Electronics has reiterated its firm stance
that it endeavors to maintain objectivity on all matters of religious
significance. With reference to the recent developments in Karachi, Samsung
Electronics stands firm on its stance that the company has the utmost respect
for all religious sentiments and beliefs and holds the religion of Islam in
utmost respect,” Samsung said in a statement released shortly.
It also announced an internal probe into the matter.
Blasphemy is a sensitive issue in Pakistan,
Afghanistan and other West Asian as well as Muslim-majority nations across the
globe.
Certain sections of European Muslims as well as Muslim
migrants living in Europe and the US have also held violent protests alleging
blasphemy and demanding death to blasphemists in accordance with the Sharia
law.
Pakistan, however, has seen quick mob justice being
meted out to people accused of blasphemy.
Earlier in 2021, Priyantha Kumara Diyawadana, a Sri
Lankan worker was lynched to death by a mob consisting of hundreds of
miscreants who claimed that Priyantha insulted the religious figure Prophet
Muhammad.
The mob beat Priyantha and according to the
post-mortem report broke every possible bone in his body.
They then hurled burning tires on his body and charred
him to death to the point that he was unidentifiable. The fanatics also spoke
to the media and clicked selfies while the Sri Lankan’s body burnt in the
background.
Pakistan also turned a blind eye to the vandalism of
the temple in Bhong, a town in eastern Punjab province in Multan, after an
eight-year-old child, accused of alleged blasphemy, was granted bail.
The Pakistan supreme court then forced the local
authorities to take steps to repair the temple after which it was reopened for
worship.
Minorities in Pakistan have alleged the government
turns a blind eye towards Islamists indulging in violence against them.
Source: News18
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
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Muslim Organizations Based in Malaysia Launch Campaign
to Combat Islamophobia
A number of Muslim
organizations based in Malaysia have initiated a campaign to combat
Islamophobia in the world.
-----
July 02, 2022
TEHRAN (IQNA) – A number of Muslim organizations based
in Malaysia have initiated a campaign to combat Islamophobia in the world.
The Malaysia Consultative Council of Islamic
Organizations, Alliance of World Masjid in Defence of Islam, and Secretariat
for Ulama Assembly of Asia, in a joint letter announced the launch of the
campaign.
The text of the letter is as follows:
“Today, we are launching an initiative to address the
issue of Islamophobia.
The aim of the campaign is to address the trend of a
subtle and overt effort by certain quarters to spread and promote hate crimes
and micro-aggressions against Muslims globally.
We are deeply concerned that Islam and Muslims have
been targeted in certain countries leading to communal clashes and prolonged
conflicts.
The prejudices towards Islam and Muslims are pervasive
even by certain governments, which tend to embrace an attitude of suspicion
towards Islam.
We recognize the danger of a deliberate campaign,
especially by the West, to create a negative narration against Islam and Muslims.
In 2015, Islamophobia reportedly increased by 200 per
cent in the United Kingdom, and anti-Muslim attacks in the United States grew
by 78 per cent.
Islamophobia is defined as "unfounded hostility
towards Islam". This includes "unfair discrimination against Muslim
individuals and communities" and the exclusion of Muslims from political
and social affairs.
Islamophobia is gaining ground. The accusation of
Islam as a threat is profoundly exercised in countries that perceive Islam to
be a formidable challenge to modern Western civilization.
While non-Western countries like China, Myanmar, India
and Sri Lanka are entrapped by the ideology of religious non-co-existence and
non-harmonious relations with Islam, extremist nationalist groups are tapping
on the premise that rejecting the presence of Islam equates to safeguarding
national interests.
Islamophobia and xenophobia take centre stage and hate
crimes against Muslims prevail.
The recognition of the Islamophobic menace is
reflected in the United Nations General Assembly, which passed a resolution
proclaiming March 15 as the International Day to Combat Islamophobia. It was
unanimously adopted by the UNGA.
We salute the effort by Pakistan, which has introduced
a resolution calling for the establishment of an International Day to Combat
Islamophobia.
We express deep concerns about Islamophobia, which has
emerged as a new form of racism, including discriminatory travel bans, hate
speech and the targeting of vulnerable Muslim girls and women for the way they
dress.
The growing tensions mean that many ethnic and
religious minority communities are increasingly experiencing racism in their
everyday lives.
In the article, "Eight Ways Islamophobia
Operates" in the "Conversation", Professor Peter Hopkins looked
at how Islamophobia affected everyday life. He said: "Not only Muslims are
targeted by Islamophobic racism. A diverse range of people from different
ethnic and religious minorities also encounter it on a daily basis, mostly as a
result of people assuming that they are Muslims.
"Sikhs, Hindus, other south Asians, those with
African heritages and even some central and eastern European migrants are all
lumped into one category. This can make other religious and ethnic minorities
insecure in public spaces, and in their everyday encounters with others."
In 2002, an array of hate crimes was reported against
Muslims across the US, including the burning of mosques, bomb threats, physical
and verbal assaults, and discrimination in employment.
We fully support the need to design an effective
strategy to counter with appropriate measures and policies to address
Islamophobia and its negative trends.
There is an urgent need to implement a global action
to counter increasing acts of violence against Muslims and Muslim communities around
the world.
We take cognizance of Islamophobia's deep historical
roots in the West dating back to the era of the Crusades. The Western
consciousness is still infested with the image of Muslims and Islam as a
threat.
Even now, some countries are embracing Islamophobia as
a policy with suppressive and discriminatory legislation. The promoters of
Islamophobia have even advanced into cultural and identity genocide.
Of particular concern is the rising hate campaign
against Islam and Muslims in India as a consequence of an indirect inclination
of the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) to condone the targeting of Muslims
by the right-wing nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
We condemn the pervasive assaults against Muslims in
India that violated human rights, international law and even the Indian
constitution. Not only acts of terrorism against Muslims are blatant,
Islamophobia is clearly pronounced by Hindu religious leaders in calling for
attacks against Muslims.
Through the aggressive hate campaign, India has turned
into the most dangerous country in which to reside for Muslims. Violence
against Islam has become so pervasive that physical attacks on Muslims are
happening on a daily basis.
BJP politicians recently made a blasphemous remark
about the Prophet and his wife, Aishah. This was deliberate and intentional to
instigate and provoke outrage among Muslims. The Islamophobia campaign in India
is to scare the masses about the presence of Islam and efforts to reduce every
historical mark of Islam in India are becoming more aggressive.
The growing Muslim presence in the world has been
perceived as a danger and under the pretext of freedom of speech and
allegations of Islamic extremism, Muslims are targeted by the governments and
the media too.
We call on all Muslim leaders at every level
(politicians, intellectuals and scholars, professionals and journalists) to
combat this long-standing fear and contempt. This is a global challenge and
needs a global movement to address it.
We call for the government of Malaysia to seriously
look into the Islamophobic trend that is fuelling negative prejudices and
perceptions towards Islam.
Malaysia should join hands with Pakistan in combating
the prevailing false and provocative statements against Islam. With the
numerous Islamic agencies in Malaysia, we call for a coordinated and collective
effort to deal with misinformation and misunderstanding of Islam.
We will organize high-impact campaigns by mobilizing
non-governmental organizations, scholars, media and governmental agencies to
reach out to the masses in correcting the Islamophobic influences.
Source: IQNA
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
https://iqna.ir/en/news/3479533/muslim-organizations-launch-campaign-to-combat-islamophobia
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Hibatullah Akhundzada, Taliban Chief Slams Foreign
'Interference' in His 'Islamic' Governance
Hibatullah Akhundzada,
Taliban Chief
-----
July 01, 2022 4:42 PM
Ayaz Gul
ISLAMABAD —
The Taliban’s reclusive supreme leader Friday ruled
out any talks or compromise on his “Islamic system” of governance in
Afghanistan in an apparent rebuke to international calls for his hardline
ruling group to ease restrictions on women’s rights to work and education.
“I am not here to fulfil your [foreigners'] wishes,
nor are they acceptable to me. I cannot compromise on Shariah [Islamic law] to
work with you or even move a step forward,” Hibatullah Akhundzada told a
men-only closed-door gathering of around 3,500 mostly religious clerics in
Kabul.
He made the rare public appearance and speech amid
tight security. Audio of his speech was aired live by Afghan state-run social
media.
Akhundzada hailed last year’s Taliban takeover of
war-shattered, impoverished Afghanistan and the subsequent enforcement of the
“Islamic system” there.
The insurgent-turned-ruling group seized power in
August, when the United States and NATO partners withdrew their final troops
from Afghanistan after almost two decades of military intervention.
"The success of the Afghan jihad is not only a
source of pride for Afghans but also for Muslims all over the world,”
Akhundzada told the audience.
“Mujahedeen [holy warriors] have established peace and
order throughout Afghanistan in the last 10 months. It is a great achievement
but its survival depends on us all being united,” he said.
Men only
The Taliban have installed a men-only administration,
restricting women’s access to public life and preventing most teenage girls
from returning to secondary school education. Women have been ordered to wear
face coverings in public and have been barred from traveling beyond 70
kilometers without a close male relative.
The harsh treatment of women and girls and a lack of
political inclusivity in governance have kept the global community from
granting diplomatic recognition to Taliban rule.
Akhundzada, in an apparent response to the criticism,
said that Afghanistan "is now a sovereign” country and did not need orders
or interference in its affairs.
“They want to run Afghanistan on their whims,” the
Taliban chief told the clerics. "They say, ‘Why don’t you do this? Why
don’t you do that?’ Why do you even interfere in my work, my country and my
principles?
“You have used the mother of all bombs and you are
welcome to use even the atomic bomb against us because nothing can scare us
into taking any step that is against Islam or Shariah,” the Taliban chief
added.
Akhundzada referred to the U.S. dropping what was
described as the “mother of all bombs,” or the most powerful conventional bomb
in the American arsenal, in 2017 on an Islamic State terror base in eastern
Afghanistan.
First such session since takeover
The three-day Kabul huddle began Thursday under tight
security in and around the venue in the wake of a recent wave of deadly Islamic
State attacks.
The meeting is the first of its kind since the Taliban
takeover of the country. Critics saw the event as an attempt by the hardline
group to demonstrate its hold on power and domestic legitimacy.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told reporters
after the inaugural session of the three-day Kabul meeting that women were not
invited to the event because it was organized at the request of independent
participating scholars and that the government had nothing to do with attendees
nor the agenda.
Critics questioned the effectiveness and legitimacy of
the grand scholars’ meeting in the absence of women, almost 50% of the country’s
estimated 40 million population.
The Taliban takeover prompted Washington and other
Western countries to immediately cut financial assistance to largely
aid-dependent Afghanistan, seize its foreign assets worth billions of dollars,
mostly held by the U.S., and isolate the Afghan banking system.
The action and long-running terrorism-related
sanctions on senior Taliban leaders have thrown the cash-strapped country into
a severe economic upheaval, worsening an already bad humanitarian crisis blamed
on years of war and persistent drought.
Taliban and U.S. officials concluded a two-day meeting
Wednesday in Doha, Qatar, where the issue of unlocking the frozen Afghan funds
also came under discussion. The talks were the first in person since March,
when the Taliban abruptly decided against allowing teenage Afghan girls to
resume secondary school education, prompting Washington to suspend the
dialogue.
Source: VOA News
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
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'Nupur Sharma Should Never Apologise, She Is Not
Responsible for Udaipur': Geert Wilders after India’s SC Remark
Nupur Sharma | PTI
----
Jul 02, 2022
Netherlands far-right politician Geert Wilders, known
for his Islamophobic comments, said BJP former spokesperson Nupur Sharma should
never apologise and she is not responsible for Udaipur. Geert Wilders extended
his support to Nupur Sharma and her comments on the Prophet when her comments
met global outrage. As the Supreme Court on Friday chastised the former BJP
functionary and said that she is "single-handedly responsible" for
what is happening in the country, including the beheading of a Hindu tailor in
Udaipur, the Dutch MP said not Nupur Sharma but radical intolerant jihadi
Muslims are responsible for the Udaipur incident. "I thought India had no
sharia courts," Geert Wilders tweeted. Also Read | Prophet row: Comments
taken out of context, says Nupur Sharma in statement to cops
The Supreme Court on Friday said Nupur Sharma should
have apologised in front of the country on television where in the first place
she made those comments on teh prophet. While several Muslim nations raised the
issue with New Delhi, protests broke out across the country last month -- in a
repercussion of her comments. On Tuesday, Kanhaiya Lal, a Hindu tailor, was
hacked to death for supporting Nupur Sharma on social media.
The rap from the top court came as the Delhi Police
investigate the case. Nupur Sharma said her comment was "according to the
information in the Muslim holy book" and that his comments went viral on
social media "without context".
Nupur Sharma had approached the Supreme Court with a
plea to club all FIRs against her. Following the top court's comments, she
withdrew the plea.
While opposition political parties welcomed the
remarks made by the top court, Vishva Hindu Parishad said the court should have
allowed the clubbing of the FIRs. "Whether Nupur Sharma committed an
offence under law or not was not the issue before the Supreme Court. It will be
decided by a magistrate (court) after recording deposition of witnesses and
hearing arguments of the parties involved in the case," VHP working
president Alok Kumar said, as quoted by PTI.
Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri also criticised the Supreme
Court's comment on social media and tweeted, "Today's Judiciary has taken
away our right to life."
"India had a great opportunity to take a
principled stand on FOE and secularism when Islamic nations objected but we
surrendered. Law & order had great opportunity when 'SarTanSeJuda’ was
called for but we ignored it. Judiciary had a great opportunity to set a
precedence but…," he tweeted.
Source: Hindustan Times
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
--------
India
Supreme Court: “Nupur Sharma Faces A Security Threat Or Has Become A Threat To The Security Of The Nation?
Jul
2, 2022
NEW
DELHI: Former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma's plea to club FIRs against her,
saying it would not be safe for her to travel to various states drew a torrent
of caustic observations from the Supreme Court on Friday.
“She
faces a security threat or has become a threat to the security of the nation?
And what has the Delhi Police done? Please don’t compel us to open our mouths.
When she makes a complaint, the person is arrested. But even when there is an
FIR against her, she is not touched. Nobody dares to touch you. That is the
clout you enjoy,” a bench of Justices Surya Kant and JB Pardiwala said.
Sharma's counsel Maninder Singh had pleaded for clubbing the FIRs, saying, “She
is not running away from probes. She wants the FIRs to be clubbed at Delhi for
probe. She has already joined the probe in Delhi.”
On
her allegedly blasphemous comments during a TV debate, the bench said, “The way
she has ignited the whole country... Still she has the cheek and courage to
come to this court to ask for relief instead of approaching the respective high
courts and trial courts. This lady is single-handedly responsible for setting
fire across the country.”
While
disapproving TV debates on a sub judice matter (like the Gyanvapi mosque case
where the Shivling was ridiculed by many Muslims with impunity), the bench
said, “It is so disturbing. The outcome is what unfortunately happened in
Udaipur. It is for you to decide whether you want to withdraw and go before the
HCs concerned. Even if a principle is laid down in Arnab Goswami case, it is a
fit case for declining relief. Our conscience is not satisfied.”
Justices
Kant and Pardiwala said in the TV debate, where the allegedly blasphemous
comments were made, “the anchor mischievously incited her and another
gentleman, who was a religious leader. And this lady irresponsibly made
loose-tongue remarks and now she claims to be a lawyer with ten years standing
to seek relief”.
On
her counsel’s repeated pleas that she had withdrawn her comments the very next
day and tendered apology, the bench said, “It was too late in the day to
withdraw. But that withdrawal is also conditional — our so and so was insulted
and disrespected continuously. These are the people who are not religious at
all. They have no respect for any religion. A person who is religious will have
respect for other religions also. It is all to gain cheap popularity and just
to advance some political or nefarious agenda that such statements are made.”
Singh
argued that even if the FIRs are taken at face value, there is no offence made
out as what she said is already said by the community’s religious preachers.
The bench said, "The petitioner also shows her obstinate character and her
arrogance that the courts are too small for her to go and appear.”
The
cloudburst of observations continued. “If you are a spokesperson, it is not a
licence to make such kind of statements. Sometimes power goes into the head.”
Source:
Times Of India
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Amarnath
Yatra: Kashmiri Muslim, Ghulam Nabi Malik Recalls The Bond His Family Shares
With The Holy Cave
July
02, 2022
Jammu
and Kashmir: As Amarnath Yatra resumes after a two-year gap, 95-year-old Ghulam
Nabi Malik recalls the bond his family shares with the holy cave that his
great-grandfather Bota Malik is said to have discovered.
At
Batakote village in Pahalgam, Ghulam Nabi Malik recited prayers he used to at
the Amarnath holy cave while helping yatris to perform darshan at the cave
shrine.
Mr
Malik, considered a living legend, has undertaken the yatra for about 60 years.
He recalls his family's association with the cave and how it strengthened the
bond between Hindus and Muslims.
The
discovery of the cave dates back to 1850 when Bota Malik, a Muslim shepherd is
said to have found it with naturally formed ice stalagmite inside it. Since
then, Mr Malik's family conducted the yatra till 2005, when the Amarnath Shrine
Board put an end to the age-old practice.
Mr
Malik said that he first visited the cave over 70 years ago. He remained part
of pilgrimage and began helping people perform the yatra and puja at the cave
shrine.
He
rues dissociation of family with the cave shrine and blames politics for it.
Due to old age, Mr Malik has not been able to visit the cave for many years now
but he still recites the puja mantras he used at the cave.
For
yatris, the Maliks were always like priests at the cave. The 95-year-old said,
"No one would mind if we were Muslims or Hindus."
His
fondest memory involves him accompanying Maharaja Hari Singh's wife Tara Devi
to the cave in 1947. He was gifted a souvenir by Tara Devi as well.
"I
first helped people perform yatra at the cave over 70 years ago. I went with
Rani (Tara Devi). We held a puja there. Rani gave me a majma, which is a copper
tray filled with dates," he said.
For
the Malik family, Bota Malik still remains a revered figure. They said that
many yatris consider their journey incomplete unless they visit the family.
However,
due to strict security regulations for yatris, no one visits them anymore.
"A
spring has sprouted right next to Bota Malik's grave and we have been
collecting drinking water from the same spring for ages now," Mr Malik
said.
His
relative Mohammad Akram Malik said yatris who knew the origin of the pilgrimage
would visit them to find out more about the Amarnath yatra, about how Bota
Malik discovered the cave and the family's contributions to conduct the yatra.
"Once
a group of yatris returned from Shishnag after they heard that the Maliks are
living here. They began looking for us. At that time, we were in the hutments
in Pahalgam. They said that they had to meet the Maliks before performing
darshan," he said.
This
year, stringent security measures have been put in place by the government
which has caused hardship to both locals and tourists.
Besides
a massive security structure already operating in the Valley, 350 additional
companies of the paramilitary have been brought in to guard the yatra.
Source:
ND TV
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
After
SC's rebuke to Nupur Sharma, Delhi Police says she was questioned on June 18
Jul
1, 2022
NEW
DELHI: The Delhi Police Friday said it had issued a notice to suspended BJP
leader Nupur Sharma on June 18 and questioned her the same day for allegedly
hurting religious sentiments, hours after the Supreme Court rebuked her for her
controversial comments against the Prophet.
She
was booked over her controversial remarks on the Prophet during a TV debate
that triggered protests across the country and drew sharp reactions from many
Gulf countries. The BJP subsequently suspended her from the party.
Deputy
Commissioner of Police (Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations) KPS
Malhotra Friday said a notice under section 41A CrPC (notice of appearance
before police officer) was served on Sharma on June 18.
She
joined the investigation and her statement was recorded the same day, he said.
The
Supreme Court on Friday came down heavily on Sharma for her controversial
comments, saying her "loose tongue" has "set the entire country
on fire" and that she is "single-handedly responsible for what is
happening in the country".
Refusing
to entertain Sharma's plea for clubbing of FIRs lodged in various states
against her for the remark, the bench held that the comment was made either for
cheap publicity, political agenda or some nefarious activities.
Source:
Times Of India
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Govt
asks social media firms to remove all content that justify Udaipur killing
by
Soumyarendra Barik
July
2, 2022
THE
MINISTRY of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has directed all
social media companies to “proactively and immediately” remove all content that
encourages, glorifies or justifies the recent murder in Udaipur, in order to
prevent “any incitement and disruption of public order and to restore public
peace and harmony”.
In
a missive sent to social media platforms, the ministry said that apart from the
videos of the murder that were uploaded online, several instances have come to
its notice where social media handles glorified or justified the killing. The
MeitY said social media companies should remove such content as part of their
obligation of being intermediaries.
“Through
this notice, you are directed to forthwith ensure that as part of your
obligation of due diligence, safety and trust, you proactively and immediately
remove any and all content (either in the form of a text message, audio, video,
photo or any other form) that seem to encourage/glorify/justify this murder and
killing with a view to prevent any incitement and disruption of public order
and to restore public peace and harmony,” the ministry said in its notice to
social media companies.
The
notice, which was sent on Wednesday, was made public on Friday.
The
MeitY’s notice comes days after Kanhaiya Lal, a tailor in Udaipur, was hacked
to death by two men, Mohammad Riyaz and Ghouse Mohammad, for allegedly sharing
remarks made by BJP’s Nupur Sharma on the Prophet. The two uploaded a video of
the murder online and in a separate video boasted about the “beheading” — and issued
death threats to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sharma.
In
response to queries by The Indian Express, a spokesperson for Facebook and
Instagram parent Meta said, “We have designated the incident as violating and
are removing any content associated with it as per our community standards.”
It
is learnt that when Meta marks an event as “violating”, it typically means that
it will remove any account belonging to the perpetrators, or content that
praises, supports or represents the attack and the identified perpetrators.
Twitter
and Koo did not respond to an immediate request for comment on whether they
have complied with the government’s missive.
Social
media companies have legal immunity from third party content hosted on their
platform by virtue of being classified as ‘intermediaries’. This legal immunity
is conditional and subject to the companies complying with certain due
diligence requirements which includes taking down content flagged by the
government under Section 69(A) of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
However, the MeitY’s notice to take down the content in question is not issued
under Section 69(A) of the IT Act.
“This
is a unilateral advisory issued by the ministry because the content related to
the killing is extremely disturbing and provocative. The volume of content that
glorifies or justifies the murder can be large due to which issuing take-down
orders under Section 69(A) would take some time, so the ministry issued this
notice to social media companies because this type of content should not be
allowed to be on their platforms,” a government official said.
Source:
Indian Express
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Udaipur
killing: Case filed against organisers of Gurugram rally for raising hate
slogans
Jul
1, 2022
NEW
DELHI: The Gurugram police have booked the organisers of a rally that was taken
out in the city on June 29 to demand stringent punishment for the accused in
Kanhaiya Lal's gruesome murder in Udaipur. The police said that the participants
-- members of the Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad -- had raised abusive
slogans promoting enmity.
Objectionable
#slogans were raised during a rally taken out on June 29 in Gurugram in protest
against the murder in… https://t.co/2x2sCF8ISJ
—
Gurugram Police (@gurgaonpolice) 1656688123000
"Objectionable
slogans were raised during a rally taken out on June 29 in Gurugram in protest
against the murder in Udaipur. An FIR was registered on June 30 by Gurugram
Police in the matter," the police tweeted.
Videos
of abusive slogans being raised during the rally went viral on social media.
Dozens
of people had assembled at a park around 5 pm on June 29 and marched in the
city. They also burned an effigy of 'Islamic Jihad terrorism' and raised
provocative slogans against a single community, said the police. The
participant also demanded the hanging of the accused and compensation of Rs. 1
crore for the dependents of Kanhaiya Lal.
Police
said they took suo moto cognizance after viewing the viral videos. "The
FIR was registered on the basis of videos shared on social media and some
Youtube channels. We are verifying the facts, and action will be taken as per
the law," said Deepak Saharan, DCP (West).
The
Gurugram Police issued an official statement saying the case was lodged under
IPC sections 116, 153A, 295A, 34 and 504.
Source:
Times Of India
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Udaipur
murder accused filmed act for ISIS, NIA to seek custodial remand
2nd
July 2022
New
Delhi: Riaz Akhtari and Ghouse Mohammad, who allegedly hacked tailor Kanhaiya
Lal to death in Udaipur, will be produced before a special NIA court on
Saturday.
According
to sources, the accused will be produced before a special NIA court which is
likely to seek their custodial remand for 14 days.
A
Pakistani national had sent Ghouse Mohammad a message saying “Kuch kar ke
dikhao”, which meant now execute the killing, they said.
Both
the accused were also in touch with Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
“Ghouse
was in touch with nine Pakistani nationals having terrorist background. He
received a number of calls from Pakistan during the murder. His Pakistani
handler had given him more terrorist task to accomplish. He was also asked to
kill a businessman in sector 11 of Udaipur. Two persons — Mohsin and Asif —
were asked to conduct a recee of all the targets,” said the sources.
In
2014, Ghouse had gone to Karachi where he came in contact with the
Dawat-e-Islami organisation. Since then he was in touch with them. He took
training in terrorism there.
The
gruesome act was recorded at the behest of a Pakistani handler claiming it to
be a revenge for insulting Islam. Later, they posted the video on social media
to enable terrorist organisations across the world access it.
In
the viral video, one of the two accused could be heard saying: “I will make the
video viral when I accomplish my goal to teach a lesson to the accused who has
shown disrespect to our God.”
Source:
Siasat Daily
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Indian
police arrest ‘masterminds’ behind murder of Hindu tailor: Officials
02
July, 2022
Indian
police made fresh arrests in the case of the execution of a Hindu tailor in
Rajasthan, a murder that stoked unease between the Hindu majority and Muslim
minority, leading to a clampdown on protests and the internet to prevent
tensions escalating.
Three
senior police officials said on Saturday that two Muslim men based in the
northwestern state were held for planning the tailor’s murder last week in his
shop in Udaipur, a popular tourist destination dotted with lakes and palace
hotels.
“We
have now arrested the two masterminds and previously we had arrested two men
who committed the heinous crime,” said Prafulla Kumar, a senior police official
based in Udaipur.
Kumar
said internet services was being gradually restored and security forces
continued to be on alert following the murder, carried out by two Muslim men now
under arrest who filmed the act and posted it online.
The
perpetrators said the act was in response to victim’s support for a
politician’s derogatory remarks about Prophet Mohammad.
The
victim, Kanhaiya Lal Teli, had allegedly put up a social media post supporting
a former spokesperson for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party who made
anti-Islam comments in May.
On
Friday, judges from the Supreme Court of India stated the ex-spokesperson,
Nupur Sharma, must apologize to the whole nation after the remarks intensified
religious fault lines in India, angered Muslim nations and triggered diplomatic
strains.
In
India, at least two demonstrators were killed in police fire during protests
against Sharma’s comments.
Police
in New Delhi arrested journalist Mohammed Zubair, a vocal critic of the Modi
government, who had helped draw attention to Sharma’s remarks through his
fact-checking website Alt News and on social media.
The
National Investigative Agency (NIA) - India’s top anti-terrorism agency - said
they were carrying out a probe in the Hindu tailor’s killing.
A
senior NIA official in New Delhi said they were questioning Muslims linked with
the four accused in Udaipur to identify whether they had links with militant
networks.
Muslims
living about 3 kilometers from the tailor’s shop where the victim was killed
said they felt nervous and feared a social and economic boycott by powerful
Hindus residing in Udaipur.
“I
know what has been done is barbaric but the community should not be held
responsible for the deed of two people,” said Mohammad Farukh, a medical
representative living in a Muslim-dominated area of the city.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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‘This
Taliban incident’ was not reaction, but result of a belief system: RSS
July
2, 2022
On
a day the Supreme Court came down heavily on suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur
Sharma saying she “is single-handedly responsible for what is happening in the
country”, the RSS suggested that “this Taliban incident” was not a reaction to
provocation but the result of a mentality and a belief system.
“You
see, this Taliban incident is not a reaction. It is not a reaction to some
provocation. It has been happening across the world without any provocation.
Somewhere there is Hamas, Islamic State, Taliban… In our country, we have SIMI
and PFI. This is not a result of provocation. Anyone who believes so needs to
study more. It is important to understand the mentality and belief system
behind this Taliban incident,” RSS publicity chief Sunil Ambekar said on
Friday.
RSS
sources said Ambekar’s reference was to the June 28 incident where two Muslim
men hacked to death a Hindu tailor in Udaipur for allegedly supporting Sharma’s
controversial comments on Prophet Mohammed on social media.
“Our
imagination of India is one that uses its strength to help others. A good
person has to also be strong enough to help another good person and stop those
who are trying to disrupt peace. …There are constitutional ways to deal with
issues. Anyone who has a problem must use the constitutional ways,” Ambekar
said.
Ambekar
was speaking at an event organised by Prabhat Prakashan to launch two books by
Arun Anand–The Taliban: War and Religion in Afghanistan and The Forgotten
History of India.
The
RSS publicity chief emphasised the need for people to understand the Taliban as
they were a neighbourhood phenomenon. “A nation that has suffered Partition in
the name of religious fundamentalism cannot ignore it. It is important to
ascertain whether any threads from there are getting connected to India or such
elements are entering the country. Are some incidents happening in the country
connected with them? Are such elements who support such fundamentalist ideology
for political or selfish interests connected with them? What is treason? It
must be ascertained,” Ambekar said.
He
said that people from across the country had struggled for freedom but not all
of them were talked about.
“We
were not told about the INA. The contribution of the RSS was completely
suppressed after whatever happened following Independence. On July 12, 1922, Dr
Hedgewar was released from jail after one year. A function was organised at
Nagpur to welcome him. At that time, Motilal Nahru and C Rajagopalachari came
and delivered speeches at the event. The nation must be exposed to this
information,” he said.
Ambekar
said people must know about V D Savarkar, Netaji Subhash Bose, tribal leader
Birsa Munda and the Manipur king who was jailed in Andaman and Nicobar.
“Only
then will people realise that India was one even before 1947 and it was not the
British who organised us into a nation. That is why it is important to revisit
the pages of history. How did socialism and secularism enter the Constitution?
The new generation must be made aware of this,” he said.
Source:
Indian Express
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NIA
court sentences 5 SIMI members to 3-7 years' RI in 2014 Bijnor blast case
Jul
1, 2022
NEW
DELHI: A special NIA court in Lucknow has convicted five members of banned SIMI
and sentenced them to a period ranging from three to over seven years of
rigorous imprisonment in the 2014 Bijnor blast case, officials said Friday.
In
its judgement delivered on Thursday, the National Investigation Agency court
sentenced Husna, Abdulla, Raees Ahmad, Nadeem and Furkan from three years to a
maximum seven years 10 months for various offences including stringent
anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in which they were booked,
they said.
All
five had confessed to their crimes on Thursday after which they were sentenced
by the court.
"The
case relates to an explosion that had taken place in the house of Leelo Devi at
Jatan Mohalla, Bijnor on September 12, 2014 and the criminal conspiracy hatched
by members of banned organization SIMI to commit terrorist acts," an NIA
spokesperson said in a statement on Friday.
The
case was earlier probed by Bijnor police which had registered multiple FIRs in
the case before the NIA took over the cases on April 30, 2015 and November 12,
2015, they said.
Source:
Times Of India
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Pakistan
Udaipur
Killing: Dawat-e-Islami, Pakistan’s Sunni-Barelvi Muslim Organisation, Not
Linked To Any ‘Act Of Terror’
Jul
02, 2022
The
Dawat-e-Islami, one of Pakistan’s largest Sunni-Barelvi Muslim organisations,
which has been in the news after the brutal killing of a tailor in India, on
Friday rejected links to “any acts of terrorism,” saying it is purely an
educational, missionary and charity institution which preaches peace.
The
organisation, with its headquarters in Pakistan’s commercial capital Karachi,
has been under the spotlight after it emerged that one of the two men who
carried out a deadly attack in Udaipur, Rajasthan, was inspired by the
Dawat-e-Islami and visited Karachi in 2014.
Two
men, identified as Riaz Akhtari and Ghouse Mohammad, allegedly hacked tailor
Kanhaiya Lal to death with a cleaver at his shop in Udaipur on Tuesday and
posted videos online saying they are avenging an insult to Islam.
Distancing
the Dawat-e-Islami from the gruesome murder in Udaipur, Maulana Mahmood Qadri,
a senior figure in the organisation’s headquarters (Faizan-e-Madina) in
Karachi’s Gulshan-e-Iqbal area rejected his organisation’s links to any act of
terrorism.
“Dawat-e-Islami
has nothing to do with any act of terrorism. We are purely an educational,
missionary and charity institution and globally preach peace in our lives,”
Mahmood told PTI in an interview.
He
said that thousands of students from all over the world visit the
organisation’s headquarters for Islamic studies that does not preach or promote
extremism or radicalism.
“We
are also apolitical,” he emphasised.
One
can easily spot the followers of Dawat-e-Islami in Karachi as they wear green
turbans and go about their work.
Dawat-e-Islami
has branches across the world, Mahmood said, adding that the organisation
operates a television channel – Madni channel - and has a proper website with
all details of the group.
“Since
the Dawat-e-Islami was founded in 1981, there has not been a single incident
where any of our students, followers or teachers has been named or been
involved in any violent activities,” he said.
Mahmood
expressed surprise at the Indian media reports linking the organisation with
the Udaipur murder, insisting that their teachings would never inspire a
student to take someone’s life.
Unlike
other religious organisations in Pakistan, the Dawat-e-Islami has never been
associated with any violence or violent act, he said.
Mahmood
said that one must always respect each other as human beings and also respect
each other’s religions.
“Any
Muslim, no matter which sect he belongs to, would never tolerate any
blasphemous comments about the Prophet Mohammad. What happened was bad and it
caused hurt, pain to every Muslim where-ever he lives,” he said, referring to
the remarks by a now-expelled BJP leader.
Mahmood
said one just had to listen to the preachings of their leader, Maulana Muhammad
Ilyas Attar Qadri, to understand the philosophy behind the movement which is to
reform oneself and the world through character building and charitable work.
“He
only talks about purifying and reforming society from what we view as moral
decay.”Every week he holds a gathering and it is live on our channel and he
talks only about peace, Mahmood said, citing it as a reason for increasing
numbers of the followers of his organisation all over the world.
“Even
if I am assassinated, my followers need not take law into their hands and seek
registration of an FIR (against the assailants). I don’t want a Fitna
(mischief) among Muslims. I want peace being alive and I want the same after
death,” Dawat-e-Islami chief Ilyas Attar Qadri says in a video message.
Qadri
openly condemns killing(s) to avenge insults to Prophet Mohammad. “We spread
the message of peace. Those who insult the Prophet should be handed over to
police for legal action,” he says.
Talking
to PTI, the Dawat-e-Islami leaders refused to own those involved in killings in
the name of religion.
“Ours
is an organisation that is totally non-violent one. Name any of our religious
gatherings here and abroad (and) you find one message from our leaders and that
is peace,” Ali Ahmad Malik Attari, a Lahore leader of Dawat-e-Islami, told PTI.
He
also emphasised that Dawat-e-Islami was in no way related to Sunni Tehreek or
Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), a far-right Islamic extremist political party
in Pakistan, and his organisation should not be confused with any such radical
group.
“Listen
to any of our leadership’s video on YouTube or in our Madni Channel, it is
found spreading Sunnah (life style) of the Prophet and message of peace and
forgiving each other,” Attari said as he challenged to produce a single clip of
its leaders that is promoting violence.
Currently
there are some 4,000 seminaries called Madrassat-ul Madina the group is running
across Pakistan. It has 700 higher education institutions called
Jamiaat-e-Madina.
Another
Dawat-e-Islami leader from Rawalpindi Arsalan Qadri, who is associated with its
higher education institution, says none of its students is involved in any
violent activity.”We have zero tolerance against religious extremism. Any one
found involved in promoting violence is shown the door,” he said.
When
asked about the visit of one of the accused in the Udaipur killing to
Dawat-e-Islami headquarters in Karachi in 2014, Qadri said: “Many link Mumtaz
Qadri, assassin of Punjab province governor Salman Taseer, with Dawat-e-Islami
but that doesn’t establish that we promote violence.”He said that usually
Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) raises a slogan of “sending a blasphemer to
hell”.”So both (Ghouse Mohammad and Mumtaz Qadri) can be inspired by the
ideology of TLP but not Dawat-e-Islami,” he said and cited the statement of the
All India Ulema and Mashaikh Board in which it strongly condemned the killing
of the tailor.
“Killing
one person amounts to killing the whole of humanity,” he said, citing a verse
from the Quran.
The
Dawat-e-Islami website lists that it has more than 500,000 male and female
volunteers, over 32,000 employees and their European headquarters is
Faizan-e-Madina in Bradford from where they run three seminaries.They also run
affiliated seminaries and institutions in other parts of Europe and in Chicago,
Texas and California in the US.
“We
have affiliations with leading religious institutions in India also but they
are all renowned for producing Islamic scholars and their publications. We are
producing thousands of Huffaz, Qaris, Imams, preachers, teachers, scholars and
Muftis from our seminaries for men and women and none of them is preaching
about extremism,” Mahmood said.
The
root of the Dawat-e-Islami can be traced to Islamic scholars, Allama Arshadul
Qadri and Shah Ahmed Noorani who headed the once powerful political religious
Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (JUP).
Source:
Hindustan Times
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Sidhu
Moosewala's photo appears on election hoardings in Pakistan
Jul
1, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
Photos of slain Indian singer-songwriter Sidhu Moosewala with a reference to
his chartbuster song '295' have found their way up on election hoardings in
Pakistan, apparently to cash in on his popularity in the upcoming by-elections
in the country's Punjab province.
With
by-elections being held on PP 217 seat located in Multan region in Pakistan's
Punjab province, Moosewala's photo was used on the hoarding of former Pakistan
Prime Minister Imran Khan's party Tehreek-e-Insaf, alongside Zain Qureshi, who
is incidentally the son of former Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi,
according to the News International newspaper.
Shubhdeep
Singh Sidhu, 28, also known as Sidhu Moosewala, was shot dead in Mansa district
in India's Punjab state on May 29, a day after the state government trimmed the
security cover of the singer and 423 people temporarily.
The
election posters showed Moosewala's picture with the numbers '295' inscribed on
it, in an apparent reference to the singer's popular number, the report said.
The
song is a commentary on the section of the Indian Penal Code that deals with
hurting religious sentiments.
The
by-elections are slated to be held on July 17.
When
Zain Qureshi was asked about Moosewala's photo on the election hoarding, he
pleaded ignorance.
"I
would like to thank everyone who has printed a picture of Sidhu Moosewala on
the poster as this poster has gone very viral because of his picture. None of
our posters had gone so viral before," he told BBC Urdu.
The
leader added: "they are trying to find out who printed the picture on the
poster and the reason behind it".
Moosewala
enjoys a loyal fan base in Pakistan, which explains why his photo was used for
the by-elections.
Last
month, a 30-year-old artist named Shahzad Bhatti from Pakistan's Punjab
province painted a huge portrait of Moosewala on a truck to pay tribute to the
popular singer-songwriter.
Source:
Times Of India
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Outrage
after reports of attack on senior journalist Ayaz Amir in Lahore
Imran
Gabol
July
1, 2022
Senior
journalist Ayaz Amir was assaulted by "unidentified men" in Lahore on
Friday night, he said in a statement to Dunya News.
A
visibly distressed Amir, with bruises on his face, said his car was intercepted
by a vehicle as he left his office after recording his television show for Dunya
News, where he works as a senior analyst.
"A
man wearing a face mask emerged from the vehicle and collared my driver.
"As
I questioned the man, a couple of other men also arrived by my side, opened the
door of my car and unleashed blows to my face, and dragged me out of the
vehicle," Amir said.
He
said the men also assaulted him on the road. Since it was a crowded road,
people began gathering, he said, adding that the attackers then made off with
his mobile phone and wallet.
Pictures
circulating on Twitter showed the journalist sitting in a car with his shirt
torn.
The
incident comes just a day after Amir delivered a speech at a seminar, which was
also attended by PTI Chairman Imran Khan, organised by the Islamabad High Court
Bar Association on the topic ‘Regime Change and its Fallout on Pakistan’.
In
his speech, parts of which went viral on social media and were widely shared by
senior journalists as well, Amir criticised the role of the country's military
establishment while also pointing out issues with Imran Khan's reign as the
country's prime minister.
Immediately
after reports of the attack on Amir were shared on Twitter, Imran strongly
condemned the "violence" against the senior journalist.
"Pakistan
is descending into the worst kind of fascism with violence and fake FIRs
against journalists, opposition politicians and citizens. When the state loses
all moral authority it resorts to violence," the PTI chairman said in a
tweet.
Punjab
Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz took notice of the assault and sought a report
from the inspector general of the Punjab police.
In
a statement, he said the attackers would be arrested and dealt with soon.
"The
incident is highly condemnable. The dispensation of justice in the case will be
ensured," the chief minister added.
State-run
APP, meanwhile, reported that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif "strongly
condemned" the attack. He instructed the Punjab chief minister to hold a
high-level investigation into the incident and bring the culprits to justice.
"The
PM expressed sympathy with Ayaz Amir and directed that protection of the
journalists should be ensured."
Condemnations
and calls for immediate action
Journalists,
lawyers, activists, politicians and members of civil society strongly condemned
the attack on Amir.
PTI's
Andleeb Abbas said the assault was "truly a pathetic attempt to crush the
truth."
Without
naming anyone, she said, "It's absolutely obvious that neutrality is
desperate and would go to any lengths."
Veteran
journalist Mazhar Abbas also called out the attack on Amir, saying "this
is unacceptable".
Senior
journalist Kamran Khan said it was "better to ban freedom of speech
through a state decree than beating into silence those exercising the right to
free speech enshrined in the constitution of Pakistan."
He
said the attack on Amir was "utterly reprehensible".
Terming
the incident "highly condemnable", journalist Mansoor Ali Khan said
arresting the attackers should be the highest priority of this government.
"Shameful
how voices are being silenced in this era," he added.
Source:
Dawn
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CTD
inspector martyred in attack on checkpoint in South Waziristan
Dilawar
Wazir
July
2, 2022
SOUTH
WAZIRISTAN: An official of the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) of police was
martyred and another was injured when terrorists attacked a checkpoint in Azam
Warsak area of South Waziristan district on Thursday night, police said.
One
of the attackers, later identified as TTP militant Bilal, was killed and
another was injured in the encounter.
Azam
Warsak police SHO Zabihullah told the media on Friday a search party of police
had set up a checkpoint. When Inspector Moosa Sulemankhel signalled two gunmen
riding motorcycles to stop, one of them opened fire, killing the inspector on
the spot.
Source:
Dawn
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https://www.dawn.com/news/1697759/ctd-inspector-martyred-in-attack-on-checkpoint-in-south-waziristan
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Southeast
Asia
Special
Taskforce on Jihad Against Inflation to encourage sales campaigns
07-
01- 2022
KUALA
LUMPUR: The Special Taskforce on Jihad Against Inflation will have discussions
next week to encourage all outlets, grocery stores and shopping malls to hold
cheap sales campaigns, Communications and Multimedia Minister Tan Sri Annuar
Musa said.
As
chairman of the taskforce, he said if all parties launched mass sales
campaigns, it would help consumers manage their expenditure better.
“So
if the sales campaigns can be held if traders are not too greedy or concerned
about their self-interests as they are capable of conducting these campaigns.
So it doesn’t have to wait till the end of the year,” he said after checking
out the prices of food at the International Islamic University of Malaysia in
Gombak today.
He
said the taskforce was planning for the sales to begin in August or September
and would negotiate with many more parties to conduct sales to help consumers
offset the rising prices of products.
“So
this way the government can bear a little, consumers can bear a little because
the hike is controlled, sellers can bear a little. This is the spirit of Keluarga
Malaysia to tackle inflation. Of we can do this, overall we can control
inflation,” he said.
He
had earlier also checked the price of food at Universiti Malaya here together
with Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta
Linggi.
Meanwhile,
Annuar said overall the taskforce would continue to urge producers and traders
not to raise their prices indiscriminately.
In
the instance of chicken prices, he said he understood why prices were rising
due to costs but it should not be too high as it was a controlled item that was
borne by the government.
“So
it is hoped that traders can cooperate with consumers to not deliberately hike
prices too high, which can cause inflation.
“I
don’t deny production costs at all levels, like vegetables, meat and fish have
risen but costs that are passed on to consumers are not commensurate with the
rising costs. So if we do not raise prices on purpose, we are helping to reduce
the inflation rate, that’s what I mean,” he said.
On
allegations that food prices at eateries at universities have risen, Annuar
said he found it did occur but not at such a high rate, but he was of the view
that traders need to make an effort not to raise prices.
He
said he congratulated the Higher Education Ministry for taking the initiative
to launch the Foodbank programme that was still ongoing but a large part of
foodbanks were distributing dry goods.
“Of
this Foodbank, the goods, we provided them to cafeteria operators for instance,
they can cook it and provide food at low and cheap prices, so that might be a
way we can reduce students’ expenditure instead of distributing dry goods.
“Secondly,
we will negotiate with the Higher Education Minister (Datuk Seri Dr Noraini
Ahmad) and she will review how far and if we can provide incentives to
cafeteria operators,” he said.
Source:
The Sun Daily
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Tajuddin
just wants to embarrass Umno, says Puad
July
1, 2022
PETALING
JAYA: Umno Supreme Council member Puad Zarkashi has accused Tajuddin Abdul
Rahman of seeking to embarrass the party by making claims about support for
opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.
Puad
said Tajuddin’s claims were untrue and irrelevant. “He just wants to embarrass
Umno,” Puad said in an online posting.
The
only reason Tajuddin had admitted to signing a statutory declaration supporting
Anwar to be prime minister in 2020 was that Tajuddin was impatient for a change
of government so that he could become a minister, Puad said.
“But
Umno has not changed its stance on Anwar and DAP. Don’t trust what Tajuddin
says,” he said, referring to the party’s stand last year that it would not
support the PKR president or DAP in any political arrangement.
Puad
also questioned why Tajuddin, who is Pasir Salak MP, had supported the
memorandum of understanding between Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s government and
Pakatan Harapan, considering that it only benefitted PKR and DAP.
As
for Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi meeting Anwar, Puad said it was not
unusual at all. “They were trying to build a big tent. But Umno remains and BN
will go solo in the coming elections as it did during the Johor and Melaka
elections,” he said.
Source:
Free Malaysia Today
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Indonesia
and United Arab Emirates reach trade pact
July
1, 2022
By
Alexander Cornwell
ABU
DHABI, July 1 (Reuters) - Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates on Friday
signed a free trade agreement, strengthening economic ties between Southeast
Asia's largest economy and the major oil producing Gulf state.
The
accord, reached during a visit by Indonesian President Joko Widodo to Abu
Dhabi, will remove or sharply reduce duties on most goods traded between the
Muslim countries.
The
UAE economy ministry said Indonesian palm oil, food products, fashion wear and
Emirati petrochemicals, rubber products, plastics and steel would benefit from
reduced or eliminated tariffs.
The
accord includes chapters on services, investments, intellectual property rights
and mutual recognition of each others' halal certification, Indonesia's trade
ministry said.
The
text of the agreement was not released and still needs to be ratified by both
countries, which is largely procedural in autocratic UAE but could take months
in democratic Indonesia.
Indonesia's
main exports to the UAE are palm oil, jewelry and precious metals, while
Emirati exports to Indonesia are mostly petroleum gases and non-crude oils,
iron and non-alloy steel, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity.
Oil
rich UAE has forged closer trade ties with Indonesia as part of an ambition to
double its own economy to $816 billion by the end of the decade, in part by
signing free trade agreements.
It
has signed similar deals with India and Israel this year.
Emirati
Economy Minister Abdullah bin Touq told reporters the deal with Indonesia could
increase bilateral non-oil trade to $10 billion within five years, up from
around $3 billion last year.
Indonesian
Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan said that Jakarta expects more UAE investment in
Indonesia following the pact, which he said would boost exports to the Middle
East and elsewhere.
The
UAE, a country of about 10 million people, is a major trade hub for the Middle
East and parts of Africa, Asia and Europe.
The
UAE will benefit from greater access to the Indonesian market of over 270
million people at time when it is diversifying its trade links and seeking to
create jobs for its 1 million citizens.
Emirati
Minister of State for Foreign Trade Thani Al Zeyoudi told Reuters the government
estimated the trade pact would create 55,000 highly skilled jobs in the UAE by
2030.
“It's
going to add about $4.6 billion to our GDP by 2030. It's going to increase the
exports by $3.2 billion and increase the imports by $2.6 billion by 2030,"
he said in an interview.
The
UAE is in bilateral free trade talks with at least a dozen other countries,
including Australia and South Korea.
Source:
Reuters
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
South
Asia
‘Homelessness’
threatens thousands of Afghans amid cruel Taliban regime
2
July, 2022
Kabul
[Afghanistan], July 2 (ANI): Due to the displacement of Afghans back to the
country by the Taliban, up to 500,000 families in Afghanistan are on the verge
of homelessness, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) stated.
“Nearly
4,000 individuals have been evicted from their improvised homes just in and
around Kabul,” said Neil Turner, Country Director for NRC in Afghanistan in a
statement, adding if a similar approach continued, tens of thousands of people
will be on the move once again, and humanitarian organizations will not be able
to respond to another massive wave of displaced people, Khaama Press reported.
The
Afghans have been displaced from the Afghan soil due to decades of war,
political instability and subsequent economic meltdown that gripped the country
since the Taliban took control in August last year.
As
a result, several of them settled in enclaves outside of bigger towns that over
time developed into informal settlements, reported Khaama Press.
NRC,
in a statement also called out the Taliban to focus on long-term solutions for
displaced Afghans and urged for the settlement closures in Afghanistan to come
to an end.
Moreover,
people are alleged to have been driven from the outskirts of Kabul,
Mazar-e-Sharif, and provinces, such as Daikundi by the Taliban, Khaama Press
stated, citing sources.
As
per the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), up to 500,000 families in Afghanistan
may soon become homeless as a result of mounting pressure from the government
to send internally displaced people back to their regions of origin.
The
Norwegian Refugee Council’s country director stated that “Unless good
alternatives are secured; the closure of informal settlements puts people who
are already struggling to survive at greater risk,” said the NRC’s country
director in a statement.
Since
the Taliban took over in mid-August last year, Afghanistan has not only seen a
mass exodus but also the illegal crossings of Afghans into neighbouring countries
like Iran via Nimroz province and Turkey.
More
than 653,000 Afghan refugees have returned or been deported to Afghanistan
mainly from neighbouring countries since August 2021, according to official
figures from the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation.
Although
the fighting in the country has ended, Afghanistan’s situation has been
deteriorating as serious human rights violations continue unabated.
Source:
The Print
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
'Taliban's
re-emergence not reactionary; country needs to be watchful'
Jul
02 2022
New
Delhi, Jul 2 (IANS): Akhil Bharatiya Prachar Pramukh of Rashtriya Swayamsevak
Sangh (RSS), Sunil Ambekar on Friday said the re-emergence of Taliban in
Afghanistan is not a reactionary incident, adding no one has triggered them
that led to their re-emergence.
Ambekar
said this while speaking at a book launch event here. Two books -- 'The Taliban
- War and Religion in Afghanistan' and 'The Forgotten History of India' --
penned by senior journalist Arun Anand were launched at the Constitution Club
here.
He
said that such incidents are happening in many countries in the form of
organisations like Hamas, ISIS or like PFI in India.
"These
incidents have not been triggered by anyone, if anyone thinks so, there is a
need to think again," he said.
"Everyone
needs to know the episodes of emergence of Taliban, their mentality and the
ideology should be known to everyone," Ambekar underlined.
He
said it is important to understand the issues related to Taliban "because
it is happening in our neighbourhood".
Such
incidents cannot be termed only political, he said.
"The
nation that faced the trauma of partition just after getting independence and
its citizens can never ignore the re-emergence of Taliban. There is a need to
go to the origin to find out whether is there any link connected to our
country," said Ambekar.
"We
need to know whether the incidents happening across the country these days are
linked with such ideology... are such ideologies entering our country or any
organisations who are supporting such incidents are connected with that
ideology? We all need to know," he said.
"We
will get nothing just covering up this. We can't afford it," he said.
Talking
about the freedom struggle, he said those who see the freedom movement as per
their own ideology and for political purpose is just an insult to the freedom
fighters. "Nothing much has been told about INA in the history, even RSS
does not find much attention in post independence era, but history cannot be
repressed," he said.
Source:
Daiji World
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https://daijiworld.com/news/newsDisplay?newsID=974848
--------
Taliban
chief pardons members of former administration in rare public appearance
July
01, 2022
KABUL:
The reclusive Taliban chief on Friday pardoned members of Afghanistan’s former
Western-backed administration during a rare public appearance and joined thousands
of religious and tribal leaders gathered in Kabul from throughout the country.
Some
3,500 representatives, including members of minorities, arrived in the Afghan
capital on Thursday for the first loya jirga since the Taliban takeover of
Afghanistan last year, a grand assembly traditionally held by Afghans to reach
a consensus on important political issues.
The
conference took place after a number of former administration officials
returned to Kabul following months of exile abroad and declared readiness to
serve the country.
In
Friday’s speech at the meeting’s venue, the Loya Jirga Tent at Kabul’s
Polytechnic University, Taliban Supreme Leader Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada
said he had pardoned them but did not see their future in the country’s administration.
“I
don’t hold them accountable for their past actions,” he told the loya jirga
participants, the state-run Bakhtar News Agency reported.
“But
amnesty doesn’t mean including them in the government.”
Most
high-ranking officials left the country after its Western-backed government
collapsed when the Taliban seized power in August, following the withdrawal of
US-led forces after two decades of war.
Akhundzada
has been the Taliban ultimate authority since 2016. Rarely seen in public, he
has long kept a low profile. His last public appearance was in Kandahar city
during Eid prayers in May, but the congregation could not see him and only
heard his voice.
His
direct appearance before the loya jirga participants was confirmed by
government spokesmen and Abdul Wahid Rayan, the chief of Bakhtar News Agency.
“He
sat on the stage facing the audience and gave his speech,” Rayan told Arab
News.
During
the Kabul gathering, Akhundzada called on investors to return to the country
and gave them security assurances, saying that dependence on foreign aid could
not revive the country’s economy.
Afghanistan
has been facing an economic and humanitarian disaster since the Taliban
takeover, which prompted the US and other donor states to cut off financial
assistance, freeze the country’s $10 billion assets, and isolate it from the
global banking system.
“I
ask businessmen to come to Afghanistan without any fear and invest in making
factories, because foreign aid will not help boost our economy,” Akhundzada
said.
The
loya jirga was called by the Taliban to forge national unity, as unacknowledged
by foreign governments they have been under mounting pressure to form an
inclusive government to win international recognition.
Prof.
Naseer Ahmad Nawidy, political science lecturer at Salam University in Kabul,
said Akhundzada’s speech had delivered, “clear messages about tolerance, unity,
obedience, and solidarity to members of the Taliban while acknowledging their
sacrifices.”
He
told Arab News: “This is promising and will boost the confidence of the Taliban
about their leadership.”
Source:
Arab News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2114891/world
--------
Pakistan-backed
war criminal gets death in Bangladesh
2
July, 2022
Dhaka
[Bangladesh], July 2 (ANI): Bangladesh International Crimes Tribuna-1 on
Thursday sentenced Pakistan-backed war criminal Md Shafi Uddin Moulana to death
for crimes during the country’s Liberation War in Lakhai Upazila of Habiganj.
Shafi,
who is v since the case started, was the central committee secretary of East
Pakistan Nezam-e-Islam, a wing of Jamaat-e-Islami. He participated in the
provincial assembly elections as its candidate, according to Asian Lite
International citing case records.
Along
with Shafi, Tajul Islam alias Fokan, Md Jahed Miah alias Jahid Miah and Saleque
Miah were awarded imprisonment till death on the same charges.
The
three-member tribunal, headed by Justice Md Shahinur Islam, found the other
accused guilty of the charges brought against them for committing genocide,
murders, rapes, abductions and tortures during the 1971 Liberation War in
Lakhai Upazila in Habiganj.
The
special court, however, acquitted another accused, Sabbir Ahmed, of war crime
charges.
According
to the court verdict, the Tribunal withdraw the case of the arrest warrant
against Sabbir, which they had issued earlier.
According
to the publication, in 1971, Shafi took the stance against the Independence of
Bangladesh and worked as a close associate and collaborator for the Pakistani
Occupation Army.
Shafi
was also known as a leader of the peace committee and Razakar Bahini of Lakhai
and worked as the auxiliary force of the Pakistan Army, who committed genocide,
rapes and killings.
The
tribunal’s investigating agency released the final report on March 21, 2016,
against the five accused persons, reported Asian Lite International.
The
trial in the case began on February 8, 2019, with the framing of charges
against the accused.
During
the 1971 Genocide in Bangladesh, the Pakistan military deliberately harmed
hundreds of thousands of Bangladeshi citizens. Rights group says the horrors of
1971 are considered one of the worst mass atrocities in history.
Source:
The Print
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://theprint.in/world/pakistan-backed-war-criminal-gets-death-in-bangladesh/1021276/
--------
Taliban
hikes price of coal that Pakistan wants to import, shows who pulls the strings
RAGHAV
BIKHCHANDANI
1
July, 2022
New
Delhi: Facing allegations that it’s becoming a ‘puppet’ of Pakistan,
Afghanistan’s Taliban regime has raised the price of coal. This comes hours
after Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif decided to approve ‘critical
quality’ coal imports from Afghanistan, in rupees, to save on foreign exchange
and wean off reliance on South African coal.
While
this was Sharif’s attempt to bring electricity to Pakistanis as cheaply and
quickly as possible amid a domestic financial crisis and a challenging global
market, the Taliban increased the rate from $90 per tonne to $200 per tonne,
and set custom duties at 30 per cent, according to data news aggregator South
Asia Index.
“The
prime minister was informed that import of coal from Afghanistan, initially
required only for Sahiwal and Hub power plants, would save more than $2.2
billion annually in the import bill,” the Express Tribune reported on Monday.
The
battle for coal
The
developments are an extension of the Taliban’s coal export increases to
Pakistan reported in late May. Since it took over Afghanistan last year and the
subsequent economic crisis, the Taliban government has been attempting to rely
on natural resources for revenue as an answer to the country’s economic crisis.
But
now, members of the regime are seeking to alter the image of the Taliban’s
relationship with the Pakistani government. On Wednesday, the spokesperson for
Afghanistan’s Ministry of Petroleum and Minerals, Mufti Ismatullah Burhan, told
The Independent Urdu that no coal trade agreement exists between the two
countries, and that the Taliban will use coal as a “pressure point” for Pakistan.
“We
sell the coal to local industrialists and the same coal is exported to Pakistan
by local industrialists…The need for Pakistan and their coal is not important
to us but our local traders are important to us and we are providing relief to
them. Local traders can send coal to any country they want but we have imposed
duties to export coal abroad,” Burhan said, insisting that Pakistan’s economy
is in such dire state that coal from Afghanistan would not improve it much.
Afghan
newspaper Hasht e Shubh Daily also quoted warnings from expert Mirahmad Shakib
that the real damage of any accelerated coal imports would not be to either
country’s economies but to the environment in Afghanistan. “Pakistan is
plundering Afghanistan’s resources in the absence of a responsible national
government,” Shakib said.
Weakening
ties
Burhan’s
remarks and the instant price hike also cast questions over the current state
of relations between the Taliban regime and the Pakistani government under PM
Sharif, especially now that India has been reported as a more involved player
in Afghanistan.
As
previously reported by ThePrint on 23 June, India reopened its Kabul embassy
and sent a “technical team” to “closely monitor and coordinate” humanitarian
relief work.
Lahore-based
correspondent for The Diplomat, Umair Jamal has further reported on how
fractures have developed between Afghanistan and Pakistan, with the Taliban
“openly” attempting to block Pakistan’s border fencing plans and offering
sanctuary to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorists to increase
instability in Pakistan’s tribal areas.
Source:
The Print
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Europe
Berlin
mosque flies rainbow flag in support of LGBTQ community
01.07.2022
The
Ibn Rushd-Goethe mosque in Berlin said on Friday it was the first German mosque
to fly the rainbow flag, a symbol of pride and diversity of the lesbian, gay,
bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community.
Located
in the central Moabit neighborhood of the German capital, the mosque unfurled
its flag in front of a small group of people, including Berlin's Culture
Senator Klaus Lederer.
Attendees
wore stickers saying "Love is Halal" ahead of a series of LGBTQ
events scheduled to take place in the city in July.
Mo
el-Ketab, one of the mosque's six imams, said the space was intended to be a
"safe place for people who are different, so they too can experience the
spiritual side of their lives."
"I
hope that many other mosques will also show the flag in this way or set other
positive signs for the LGBT community," he added.
The
flag will remain up until the end of July, the LGBTQ website Queer.de reported.
Berlin's
pride month just beginning
While
most of the world celebrates pride month in June, the German capital will hold
two major LGBTQ events in July.
One
is the Lesbian and Gay Festival on July 16 and 17, while the other is
Christopher Street Day (CSD) on July 23.
According
to Berlin-based newspaper Der Tagesspiegel, organizers have planned four weeks
of events running from the anniversary of the Stonewall protests on June 28 to
Christopher Street Day.
CSD
board member Marc-Eric Lehmann said the rainbow flag at the Ibn Rushd-Goethe
mosque sent "an incredibly strong sign" and it was "really
important" to find a place for religion in LGBTQ communities.
"Queer
people can also be religious and believe in God," he said. "We should
not just be talking about safe spaces in bars and clubs in Berlin, we also have
to talk about safe spaces in the places of worship."
Source:
DW
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.dw.com/en/berlin-mosque-flies-rainbow-flag-in-support-of-lgbtq-community/a-62333570
--------
Berlin-based
news website reveals real face of YPG/PKK terror group
Cuneyt
Karadag
02.07.2022
BERLIN
One
of Germany's leading news websites has published a story featuring the inner
face of the YPG/PKK terror organization.
The
opinions of Turcologist Walter Posch, who is a member of the Institute for
Peace Support and Conflict Management at the Austrian National Defence Academy,
was given space in Deutschlandfunk on June 22 under the title, "PKK,
Turkey and Kurdish terror."
"The
fact that foreign forces focus on the YPG as they do not have their own troops
in Syria is a disaster with multiple consequences," said Posch.
Posch
accused Western countries of legitimizing the PKK terror group.
Underlining
that he examined the so-called charter of the terror group, Posch said
Westerners are deceived by the PKK’s rhetoric of a “democratic society.”
Contrary
to what is believed, what the PKK wants and aims at is a communist society, he
said.
Posch
drew attention to the fact that the PKK wants to legitimize its power against
all Kurdish people rather than wanting cultural coexistence of various Kurdish
groups.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Sweden
'100% behind' NATO accession agreement with Türkiye: Premier
Atilla
Altuntas
01.07.2022
STOCKHOLM
Sweden
fully supports the NATO accession agreement reached with Türkiye, the country’s
prime minister said on Thursday.
“We
are 100% behind the agreement,” Magdalena Andersson told Swedish daily SVD.
Sweden
and Finland formally applied to join the alliance last month, a decision
spurred by Russia’s war on Ukraine.
But
Türkiye, a longstanding member of the alliance, voiced objections to the
membership bids, criticizing the countries for tolerating, and even supporting
terrorist groups.
After
talks between Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and leaders of the two
Nordic countries and NATO in Madrid, a trilateral memorandum was signed on
Tuesday to open the path for the alliance to officially invite Finland and
Sweden to join its ranks.
The
two countries have pledged to address Türkiye’s terrorism concerns and lift an
arms embargo on Ankara.
It
also states that Finland and Sweden will work closely with Türkiye on issues
related to exchange of information, extradition and, in general, the fight
against terrorism.
On
the issue of extradition, Andersson said Türkiye has made extradition requests
in the past “and we have dealt with them.”
Sometimes
people have been deported, but most of the time they have not, she said.
At
a press conference in Madrid earlier on Thursday, Erdogan hailed the memorandum
as a “diplomatic victory” for Türkiye.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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--------
Daesh
‘Beatle’ tells victim’s daughter her father asked executioners to make his
death ‘quick’
July
01, 2022
LONDON:
A British aid worker murdered by Daesh asked his executioners to “make it
quick” before they killed him in 2014.
Alexanda
Kotey, 37, one of the terror group’s so-called “Beatles” cell, told Bethany
Haines, daughter of David Haines — a former Royal Air Force worker from
Scotland — that her father had made the request before he was beheaded by
fellow terrorist Mohammed Emwazi in 2014.
The
revelation came during a meeting between Bethany Haines and Kotey in the US,
where the British-born militant is serving a life sentence for his activities
with the group.
“He
told me that Jihadi John (Emwazi) had been away to execute my father and my father
knew what was coming, closed his eyes, and said, ‘Can you make it quick?’ I can
picture him saying that, in his orange jumpsuit, with his eyes closed,” Haines
said. “I can picture him saying, ‘Please make it quick.’”
Kotey
also told her that he had followed David for several days before abducting him
in 2013, and that the murder had been delayed so that Daesh could film it from
multiple angles to use for propaganda purposed, she added.
“I
asked for an apology,” Haines said. “I pressed on with it and eventually he did
say, ‘I am sorry for’ — he just used my words for it — ‘abducting and hurting
your dad.’ Did he mean it? No.”
Kotey
was sentenced to life in prison by a court in Virginia in April, having pleaded
guilty to charges of kidnap, torture and executing hostages. Presiding Judge TS
Ellis described Kotey as “egregious, violent and inhuman.”
During
his trial, Haines confronted him in the dock, saying he should “rot in hell.”
Co-defendant
and fellow “Beatle” El Shafee Elsheikh will be sentenced in August. The duo
were stripped of their UK citizenship when they were captured in Syria in 2018,
and extradited to the US.
Emwazi,
meanwhile, was killed in a drone strike in 2015. The fourth “Beatle,” Aine
Davis, was recently freed from a prison in Turkey after serving a
seven-and-a-half year sentence, and is set to be deported to the UK on July 9.
Between
them, the four are thought to have taken part in the torture and murder of 27
people.
Reg
Henning, brother of David Henning, another British aid worker murdered by
Daesh, said the UK should deny Davis entry over fears that he may be released
on arrival.
Davis
was subject to an Interpol red notice at the behest of British police after his
wife, Amal El-Wahabi, was jailed in the UK for 28 months for trying to send him
€20,000 ($20,868), which could see him charged with preparing acts of terrorism
abroad.
“He’s
British when it suits him,” said Henning. “He left to join Islamic State, but
is thinking, ‘I’ll go back to Britain because they’re nice and soft.’”
Dr Alan
Mendoza, executive director of counter-terrorism think tank the Henry Jackson
Society, told the Daily Mail: “A dangerous jihadist is heading back to the UK
after a career of extreme violence and we can do nothing about it except spend
vast sums to monitor him.
“We
need urgent reform of legislation to ensure national security threats like this
are dealt with far from these shores.”
Source:
Arab News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2114751/world
--------
Arab
World
Extreme
Sixth Century Droughts In Arabia Linked To Rise Of Islam, Report Says
1
July 2022
Extreme
droughts in the 6th century in the Arabian Peninsula may have played a partial
role in the rise and spread of Islam, according to a recently published
research paper.
The
authors of the paper, published by the University of Basel in Switzerland and
the University of Massachusetts Amherst, investigated the climate conditions in
the decades leading up to the birth of Islam in the 7th century.
Using
a combination of climate, historical, and Archaeological records, the study
notes that at the same time that the Himyarite Kingdom in early sixth century
Arabia was facing decline, there was an ongoing extreme drought in the area.
Historians
have long debated the socio-economic conditions that could have led to the
decline of the Himyarite Kingdom.
Using
stalagmite samples found in al-Hoota Cave in northern present-day Oman, Dominik
Fleitmann, a professor of environmental sciences at the University of Basel and
lead author of the study, found that there was a significant fluctuation in the
formation of these stalagmites around 520 to 532 CE.
“Even
with the naked eye you can see from the stalagmite that there must have been a
very dry period lasting several decades,” Fleitmann said.
Fletimann
and a team of researchers spent the last two decades looking into the droughts
that took place in the Arabian Peninsula more than a millennia ago. Other
sources, including historical data on water levels of the Dead Sea, further
confirm a particularly severe and lengthy regional drought.
The
study is careful to emphasise that while there is a correlation between the
climate conditions of the time and the decline of the Himyarite Kingdom, the
drought did not directly cause its fall nor was it a cause for the eventual
rise of Islam in the area.
“However,
drought was an important factor in the context of the upheavals in the Arabian
world of the sixth century,” said Fleitmann, lead author of the paper.
The
Himyarite Kingdom was formally established in the third century in what is now
known as Yemen and flourished for the next hundred or so years.
By
the mid-sixth century, however, the kingdom was plagued by declining trade,
internal conflict and interventions from outside forces, including the
Byzantine and Sasanian Empires.
A
primarily Jewish population, Himyar was also besieged by the Christian kingdom
of Aksum, neighbours from present-day Ethiopia, who would eventually conquer
the kingdom.
The
power vacuum left by the fall of the Himyarite kingdom produced societal
changes in the region, and the study suggests that it may have primed the area
for the rise of Islam in the seventh century.
The
idea of climatic change contributing to the social environment in which Islam
was birthed is not new. Muslim medieval scholars had alluded to the idea that
climate played a role in shaping Islam, according to Omar Sayfo, a researcher
at the Avicenna Institute of Middle Eastern Studies.
Even
the word sharia, used to denote Islam's code of conduct and legalistic
traditions, can be derived from an archaic Arabic word meaning, "the path
to water", a sign of the arid conditions of the time.
Source:
Middle East Eye
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Over
30 governments gather to discuss Hezbollah’s ‘ongoing global terrorist’ plots
01 July,
2022
A
group of over 30 governments met this week to discuss the global terrorist threat
posed by Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah, the State Department said on Friday.
“Participants
discussed Hezbollah’s ongoing global terrorist plotting, weapons procurement,
and financial schemes, and outlined how Hezbollah may adapt in the future to evade
law enforcement detection,” according to a statement.
The
Law Enforcement Coordination Group (LECG) also looked at ways to disrupt
“Hezbollah terrorist and criminal activities, and associated networks.”
“LECG
participants noted that these actions demonstrate the growing recognition among
our partners about the need to cooperate on our efforts to counter Hezbollah’s
global terrorist networks,” the statement read.
This
was the group’s ninth meeting, which gathered countries from the Middle East,
South America, Central America, Africa, Indo-Pacific and North America. Europol
was also present at the meeting in Europe, but the State Department did not
specify where it was held.
Several
countries have designated Hezbollah as a terror group in recent years, following
Washington’s lead.
Others
have banned or limited Hezbollah’s activities in their respective countries,
including participating in pro-Hezbollah parades.
The
US designated the group as a terrorist organization in its entirety in 1997.
But French refusal to blacklist the group in its entirety has hindered
international efforts to pressure Hezbollah and get them to disarm. They were
the only group allowed to keep their weapons following the 1975-90 Civil War in
Lebanon.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Wings
clipped for Lebanon’s soaring emigration as passport renewal process slows
01
July, 2022
As
Lebanon’s crises continue to deepen, many members of the population are seeking
to leave their home country in search of better prospects abroad. Still, many
are being held back by restrictions imposed on their inability to apply for or
renew their passports.
The
collapse of the Lebanese lira over the last two years has led to an exponential
increase in the cost of living, down to necessities like food, fuel, and power.
Over ninety percent of the population lives below the poverty line, and nearly
one-in-three Lebanese are unemployed.
Not
being able to travel means missing out on job opportunities outside the country
and the more reliable salaries paid in fresh foreign currency on which many
families in Lebanon now depend.
“My
passport expires in 2023,” said Siham Sulaiman, a Beirut resident. “I’m hoping to
renew as soon as possible – to avoid complications – [but] I don’t have an
appointment.”
“When
it comes to delays and issues, nothing is off the table,” she continued.
“They
could postpone [your appointment] without giving any reasonable time, or the first
possible appointment could be months – if not a year – later.”
Obtaining
official documents in Lebanon is often difficult, frustrating, and protracted
due to a lack of standardized practices and poor record keeping. Costs have
also increased significantly since the onset of the financial crisis.
“I’ve
known for a while that official papers and documents were not available, so it
was a matter of time before it hits our passports,” said Lea Aouad, another
Lebanese citizen. “The fees to renew were becoming crazy, so – even if
passports were available – not many people are able to renew because they
cannot afford it.”
“I
have a US passport [but for] the numerous cousins I have in Lebanon, my
sister-in-law, and my friends, their experience has been horrid,” said Elias
Nader, a Lebanese-American living in California. “There is no complete
information on what to do. They are waiting and waiting and cannot get a
response back from anyone.”
Renewing
a passport also requires a physical appointment, which people can only obtain
through an online booking service. It excludes those without internet access or
who cannot travel to their official meeting place at the appointed time. It
consists of a rapidly expanding proportion of the Lebanese population.
In
April, the problem peaked as the demand for passports exceeded the physical
stocks held in reserve by the Lebanese General Directorate of the General
Security. It followed a dispute over payments to its French supplier company.
Despite suspending its website for several months, the GDGS insists that it
never stopped issuing or renewing passports.
“Although
obtaining a passport is a constitutional right, the unaccounted rise in the
number of passport renewals depleted the limited inventory,” a GDGS
spokesperson told Al Arabiya English. “The passport reservation platform was
stopped, and the total number of daily applicants was limited to cope with the
unexpected rise in demand.”
According
to the GDGS, nearly 70 percent of citizens who renewed their passports between
2020 and 2021 have not yet used them. It has prompted the government body to
appeal for restraint on the part of citizens in the hope of avoiding further
unnecessary delays, allowing those with genuine, urgent requirements to be
processed faster.
“[We
ask] citizens who do not urgently need a passport not to hurry to book
appointments, to enable those who desperately need to get a passport,” the GDGS
said in an official statement. “These passports will be secured to those who
claim them as their right and a construction of laws that guard this right.”
Despite
this, within days of reopening the booking system, appointments for passport
renewals were already fully booked until April 2023. It has left some citizens
concerned that the GDGS will suspend the renewal if the new physical stocks
fail to meet the enormous demand.
“I
feel insecure being in a country going through such a situation without the
option of leaving,” said Aouad. “I feel trapped, anxious, and disconnected from
the world. [It is a] horrible feeling, especially when you [are going] through
blackouts and fuel shortages.”
Some
citizens believe that the government is using the passport crisis to indirectly
restrict the flow of emigrants – particularly students and young professionals
– out of the country, to prevent a feared ‘brain drain’ that threatens
Lebanon’s economic recovery.
Others
take a dimmer view, regarding the move as simply another opportunity for the
wealthy political elite to enrich themselves at the expense of ordinary
citizens or obstruct Lebanese expatriates from voting in the recent
parliamentary elections.
“[They]
wanted to prevent expats with a Lebanese passport from traveling back to
Lebanon to vote,” said Nader. “Many expats who wanted their passports renewed
could not get them [and] their local embassies could not tell them why. Also,
they want to prevent the current exodus of doctors, nurses, and professionals
due to the economic disaster that has engulfed the country.”
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Syria
not part of consultative meeting in Lebanon, says Arab League chief
Wassim
Samih Seifeddine
01.07.2022
BEIRUT
Syria
will not join the consultative meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Lebanon
tomorrow, the head of the Arab League said on Friday.
“All
Arab countries will participate in the consultative meeting of the Arab foreign
ministers on Saturday, except Syria whose membership is frozen,” Ahmed Aboul
Gheit said after arriving in Beirut.
About
the agenda of the meeting, he said every minister will propose issues for
discussion on behalf of their countries.
The
Arab League, formally known as the League of Arab States, is expected to hold
its first annual summit in three years in Algeria this November.
Syria’s
Arab League membership was suspended in 2011 after the regime’s brutal
crackdown on mass protests.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Bahrain’s
Al Khalifah regime bans Shia visits to Iraq, Syria
02
July 2022
In
yet another indication of entrenched hostilities against Shia Muslims in
Bahrain, the Al Khalifah regime has banned visits by the kingdom’s Shias to
Syria and Iraq.
The
Bahraini Shias, who are already banned from visiting the holy shrine of Imam
Reza and other religious places in Iran, can no longer travel to Iraq and Syria
neither by land nor by air.
“Over
the past weeks, after pilgrims returned from Iraq and Syria, they were
questioned about the reasons for their trip, and the Shias were put under a lot
of pressure. But now the government of Bahrain has entirely banned pilgrimage
to Syria and Iraq, and no Bahraini pilgrims has the opportunity to visit the
holy shrines in Iraq and Syria,” Iran's Fars News Agency said saturday.
According
to reports, a group of Iraqi Shias gathered in protest against the Al Khalifah
regime’s decision and demanded the lifting of restrictions for Bahraini Shias.
More
than 100,000 Bahrainis visit Iraq's holy shrines every year, apart from those
in Arbaeen, which marks the 40th day after Ashura, commemorating the
seventh-century martyrdom of Prophet Mohammad's grandson Imam Hossein.
The
regime has long been criticized by global rights groups for its abysmal human
rights record, and brutal suppression and killing of pro-democracy activists.
The
country has seen regular demonstrations since the popular uprising began in
mid-February 2011.
The
majority of the population in Bahrain are in favor of the Al Khalifah regime relinquishing
power and allowing the establishment of a just and broad-based system
representing all Bahrainis.
Manama,
however, has gone to great lengths to clamp down on any sign of dissent.
In
June 2016, the Bahraini regime revoked the citizenship of Ayatollah Sheikh Isa
Qassim, a leading pro-democracy Bahraini cleric, prompting protests and sit-ins
across the country.’
Source:
Press TV
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Syrian
army checkpoint intercepts US military convoy in oil-rich Hasakah
01
July 2022
A
Syrian army checkpoint has blocked a US military convoy that was attempting to
pass through the northeastern province of Hasakah, forcing it to retreat.
Local
sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Syria’s official news agency
SANA that a US convoy consisting of five vehicles was forced to make a U-turn
after the checkpoint personnel intercepted it at the village of Qabr
al-Gharajeneh in Qamishli city in Hasakah on Friday.
Hasakah
has been the scene of several incidents of US military convoys being forced to
change route or retreat.
People
in Hasakah have blocked roads in a show of seething resentment over the
presence of American troops in their region.
On
March 21, local residents of several neighboring villages in the oil-rich
province of Hasakah joined forces with government troops to block a US military
convoy attempting to pass through the community.
The
US convoy, consisting of six armored vehicles, was forced to turn around and
head back in the direction it came from after locals of the villages of Qabr
al-Saghir and Qabr al-Gharajeneh as well as government troops blocked the road
and prevented its movement. No injuries were reported.
Similarly,
a US military convoy was forced to retreat from an area in the same province on
Wednesday.
The
US military has stationed forces and equipment in northeastern Syria. The
Pentagon claims the deployment is aimed at preventing the oilfields in the area
from falling into the hands of Daesh terrorists. Damascus says the deployment
is meant to plunder Syria’s rich mineral resources.
Former
US President Donald Trump admitted on more than one occasion that American
forces were in Syria for its oil.
After
failing to oust the Syrian government through militant proxies and direct involvement
in the conflict, Washington stepped up its economic war on the Arab country.
‘Disgusting
hypocrisy’
Meanwhile,
Abdulhameed Dashti, the president of the International Council for Supporting
Fair Trial and Human Rights (ICSFT), has condemned the “hypocrisy” of countries
that continue aggression against Syria.
In
a speech at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on Friday, Dashti said the
“disgusting hypocrisy” practiced by those and their hostile recommendations
against the people of the Arab country harm the credibility of international
law.
He
also praised the Syrian government for its tremendous efforts to ensure a
decent livelihood for its citizens despite the high costs of the war and the
impact of the unilateral economic sanctions.
Dashti
said the report submitted by the Syrian delegation to the UNHRC confirms the
Syrian government’s work to ensure a decent life for its citizens after it has
restored security and basic services to all liberated provinces despite the
challenges it is facing. The Syrian government has performed its duty to
protect its sovereignty and independence, in addition to confronting terrorist
groups and seeking to liberate its entire territory from the Turkish, Israeli,
and US occupation forces, he added.
Dashti
said the United States, Israel, and Turkey presented politically motivated
allegations against Syria. He also called for facilitating the return of all
Syrian refugees to their homeland.
Syria
and the Israeli regime are technically at war due to the latter’s 1967-present
occupation of Syria’s Golan Heights. The regime's attacks on Syria have grown
significantly in scale and frequency after 2011 when Syria found itself in the
grip of foreign-backed terrorism.
Turkey
has also been conducting several incursions against neighboring Syria’s
northern parts since 2016 to fight back against Kurdish militants known as the
People’s Protection Units (YPG).
Ankara
associates the YPG with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorist group,
which has been fighting a deadly separatist war against Turkey for decades.
Source:
Press TV
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Islamic
State group militants seize SDF weapons depot in northern Syria
01
July, 2022
Islamic
State group militants grabbed weapons belonging to the Syrian Democratic Forces
(SDF) from a depot in northern Syria’s Al-Hasakah province, The New Arab’s
Arabic-language service Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported.
IS
cells seized the arms dump after carrying out an attack on the SDF military
point in the Al-Bawardi area in the eastern countryside of Al-Hol town at dawn
on Thursday, informed sources told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.
The
extremist group managed to snatch ammunition and individual weapons from the
US-backed forces' depot before withdrawing.
“Groups
affiliated with ISIS were able to seize a small arms depot... the cells withdrew from the point after seizing
some weapons and ammunition," a source said.
On
the same day, the Asayish forces - the police force of the Kurdish-controlled
region in north and east Syria - arrested around six foreign women related to
IS members, following an increase in arrests within the woman’s department of
the Al-Hol camp.
The
camp - in the eastern countryside of
al-Hasaka - is home to around 56,000 people, mostly women and children related
to IS fighters, or refugees fleeing atrocities the extremist group committed
when it controlled parts of Syria and Iraq.
The
SDF - the military branch of the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North
and East Syria - played a major role in the territorial defeat of the IS group
in Syria.
Over
a decade of conflict in the war-torn country has left it deeply fractured, with
various foreign armies and militias in control of different regions.
Source:
The New Arab
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://english.alaraby.co.uk/news/islamic-state-group-seize-sdf-weapons-depot-syria
--------
Mideast
UN
Envoy: Iran Calls for Multilateral Diplomacy to Remove Unlawful Sanctions
2022-July-1
"We
believe that JCPOA is a hard-won multilateral diplomatic achievement that
remains the best option with no alternatives," Takht Ravanchi said before
the United Nations Security Council on Non-Proliferation: implementation of UN
Security Council resolution 2231 (2015).
He
emphasized that that any multilateral agreement should guarantee and verify the
removal of unlawful sanctions imposed against Iran.
The
following is the full text of Takht Ravanchi's speech at the UNSC's meeting:
Mr.
President,
I
thank you for convening this meeting and I also thank the USG and Ambassador of
Irelands and the EU for their briefings.
Almost
seven years after JCPOA’s conclusion and adoption of Resolution 2231, today the
Council members once again reaffirmed their support for the restoration and
full implementation of JCPOA.
We
believe that JCPOA is a hard-won multilateral diplomatic achievement that
remains the best option with no alternatives.
Mr.
President,
I
feel compelled to refresh our memories about the reasons behind the current
situation. Unfortunately, certain Council members that have disregarded their
own obligations with regard to JCPOA and Resolution 2231, continue to ignore
the underlying causes of the current situation and present a spurious narrative
as to why we are here, attributing certain falsehoods and fabrications to my
country.
The
commitments under the deal, which have been carefully worded and explained in
JCPOA and Resolution 2231, are explicit and unambiguous.
While
Iran’s nuclear commitments were connected to the effective lifting of all
sanctions and normalization of Iran's trade and economic relations, the sheer
fact is that sanctions are still in place and Iran is not enjoying the economic
dividends as promised in the deal.
In
accordance with JCPOA, other parties are committed, and I quote, “to ensure
Iran’s access in areas of trade, technology, finance and energy”, end of quote.
Specifically, the United States, in addition to its obligation to lift
sanctions against Iran, is explicitly committed to, and I quote, “make best
efforts in good faith to sustain this JCPOA and to prevent interference with
the realization of the full benefit by Iran of the sanctions lifting”, end of
quote.
Despite
these explicit commitments, Iran has been denied its rights and benefits for
the past four years.
Let
me remind ourselves that in defiance of Resolution 2231 and in flagrant
violation of international law and the UN Charter, the United States withdrew
from the agreement on May 8, 2018, and re-imposed unilateral sanctions that had
previously been lifted, putting unparalleled pressure on other countries to
either disregard their obligations under Resolution 2231 or face punishment.
This is unprecedented in the history of the Security Council.
Despite
the enormous difficulties we faced as a result of the sanctions, Iran decided
to continue honoring its commitments, validated by the IAEA for 15 times, after
being promised and assured by the European participants of JCPOA that they
would compensate the losses Iran suffered after the U.S. withdrew from JCPOA.
Unfortunately,
the E3 disregarded their obligations and promises, leaving Iran with no choice
but to utilize its rights under paragraphs 26 and 36 of JCPOA to partially
suspend its commitments on May 8, 2019.
In
this context, Iran has taken certain remedial measures in accordance with JCPOA
to re-establish some balance in the reciprocal commitments and benefits under
the accord, however, these certain States refer, with much fanfare, to Iran’s
remedial measures in a manner as if it was Iran that withdrew from JCPOA and
re-imposed or introduced countless inhumane sanctions with the publicly
declared objective of starving an entire nation.
While
the former U.S. administration recklessly sacrificed a well-established tenet
of international law and withdrew from the deal and re-imposed sanctions, the
present administration is following in its predecessor’s footsteps as it
continues to adopt the notorious maximum pressure policy and impose sanctions
on Iran. There is no doubt that such a policy is advanced as a leverage in the
negotiations.
Against
this backdrop, I would like to address a few points that clarify our position
on the current situation as well as the ongoing talks.
Iran
is committed to multilateral diplomacy, the outcome of which should assure the
effective and verifiable lifting of all unlawful sanctions.
Iran
has demanded verifiable and objective guarantees from the U.S. that JCPOA will
not be torpedoed again, that the U.S. will not violate its obligations again,
and that sanctions will not be re-imposed under other pretexts or designations
- as occurred during the previous U.S. administration - and that JCPOA
mechanisms will not be abused. In fact, these are the minimum requirements for
determining the deal's long-term viability.
In
the course of Vienna talks, we exercised maximum flexibility and showed good
faith in order to reach an agreement acceptable to all and even introduced
innovative solutions to the remaining issues with the hope to break the
impasse.
However,
the United States' unrealistic and rigid approach has led to the current
stalemate.
Mr.
President,
We
are continuing our remedial measures because other parties' non-performance of
commitments continues, sanctions remain in full force, the maximum pressure policy
is still being pursued, and our people's sufferings continue.
Nonetheless,
as soon as other parties fulfill all of their obligations in a complete,
effective, and verifiable manner, Iran will immediately reverse all of its
steps. However, the sufferings of our people as a result of other parties
failing to perform their commitments are nearly completely irreversible.
Our
patients, particularly those with rare diseases, have been suffering from
inhumane sanctions which include even medicine and medical equipment. How can
the deaths and sufferings of these innocent patients be reversed? This
injustice cannot be erased from the Iranian people’s memory.
Mr.
President,
With
regard to our cooperation with IAEA, as well as our peaceful nuclear
activities, I would like to stress that all of our peaceful nuclear activities
are entirely consistent with our rights and obligations under the NPT, as well
as the Agency's safeguards agreement.
As
a responsible member of the NPT, the Islamic Republic of Iran is committed to
the principle of collaboration with the Agency and has fulfilled all of its
obligations under the NPT and Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement, as the Agency
continues its activities in Iran without hindrance.
Our
peaceful nuclear program has been under the most robust and intrusive nuclear
verification, monitoring, and transparency measures ever conducted in a country
during the history of non-proliferation.
Iran
also provided the Agency with the necessary information concerning the alleged
locations on March 20, 2022, in compliance with the Joint Statement agreed upon
on 5 March 2022 and within the timetable established.
Despite
this unprecedented, strong, and proactive cooperation with the IAEA, the
Agency's response was neither appropriate nor productive. Iran was surprised by
the Agency's latest report on the issue because we have gone to great lengths
to explain and clarify the remaining questions. We have responded to all of the
Agency's questions in a thorough, constructive, and cooperative manner. We
believe that the Agency's recent claims are based solely on erroneous and
fabricated information provided by the Israeli regime who has done all in its
power to kill the JCPOA.
Despite
Iran’s constructive cooperation with the Agency, the US and the E3 pushed for
the adoption of a resolution at the recent IAEA Board of Governors’ meeting.
And their mere motive was to build up their negotiated position in the current
talks.
We
believe that the IAEA's resolution is politically driven and that it will have
negative effects on the ongoing talks, the consequences of which will be the
responsibility of the resolution's authors. This childish game must end.
As
a result, in line with our Parliament’s resolution, we have decided to suspend
certain measures that were not covered by the safeguards agreement. However,
Iran is willing to continue engaging with the IAEA to address concerns and
misunderstandings as long as the issues are technical and nonpolitical. The
Agency needs to respect the principles of independence, impartiality, and
professionalism in its work.
Mr.
President,
During
our intensive consultations with the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs
and Security Policy, Mr. Joseph Borrell, in Tehran last week, Iran once more
emphasized its willingness to provide creative solutions to the remaining
issues in the hope of ending the deadlock. We agreed to hold indirect talks
with the U.S. through the EU in order to overcome the last hurdles in the
talks. We were sincere in the Doha talks that were serious and positive. As in
the past, we will be in touch with the EU Coordinator for the next stage of the
talks.
Our
negotiating team is ready to engage constructively again to conclude and reach
a deal. The ball is in US’s court and If the U.S. acts realistically and shows
its serious intention to implement its obligations, the agreement is not out of
reach.
Finally,
with regard to the Secretary-General’s report on Resolution 2231, our
observations are contained in my letter dated 27 June 2022 to the Secretary-General
(S/2022/518), covering our views on issues that I did not address in my remarks
today.
However,
we believe that the report should have addressed the root causes of the current
situation around JCPOA, and focused on the United States' violations of UN
Security Council Resolution 2231 (2015), which includes sanctions-lifting
commitments.
According
to certain paragraphs of the report, the Secretariat has continued to engage in
unauthorized travel and verification visits as well as measures "to-examine"
the allegations regarding the implementation of annex B to the resolution.
The
Note by the President of the Security Council (S/2016/44) has elaborated the
Secretariat's mandate on the implementation of resolution 2231 which is
confined to "administrative support" for the Security Council. As a
result, such ultra vires activities by the Secretariat are unacceptable and
should be avoided. Similarly, any possible findings or assessments made by the
Secretariat are rendered null and void. In this regard, any allegation that may
be attributed to the Islamic Republic of Iran is hereby rejected.
In
Conclusion, Mr. President, allow me to say a few words about the region.
First,
we categorically reject baseless accusations and unfounded allegations made
against my country at this meeting.
As
a responsible State, Iran is committed to its international obligations and has
never engaged in any activity that breaches its obligations including under
Resolution 2231.
Our
space and missile programs, fall outside the purview or competence of the
Security Council resolution 2231 (2015) and its annexes and are not subject for
negotiations.
Iran’s
foreign policy is based on the full respect for international law, mutual
respect, good neighborliness, cooperation, and dialogue, as well as maintaining
regional peace and security through active participation of all regional
States.
We
are determined to pursue this policy in good faith. Our constructive engagement
and efforts with the UN to assist and support the truce and its extension in
Yemen stem from our firm belief that regional countries should work together to
work toward a peaceful settlement of disputes.
The
massive U.S. military build-up and export of sophisticated weaponry to the
region, as well as certain European countries' supply of lethal weapons to
regional countries, have transformed this region into the world's biggest
concentration of foreign military installations, making it a ticking time bomb.
Another
key source of regional insecurity is the Israeli regime's destabilizing,
malicious, and terrorist activities in the region, which have always been
accompanied by persistent US support.
The
Israeli regime has used every opportunity to threaten and destroy the JCPOA as
well as undermine the implementation of resolution 2231 by the UN Member
States.
This
regime has committed covert operations, subversive and disruptive measures
against Iran's peaceful nuclear program as well as the cowardly and abhorrent
assassination of innocent Iranian scientists to further its sinister objectives
in the region.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
FM:
Iran Supports Political Solution to Ukraine Crisis
2022-July-1
"Iran
does not consider war as a suitable solution to solve problem between Russia
and Ukraine," Amir Abdollahian said in his phone talk with Kuleba on
Thursday night.
The
Iranian foreign minister said that the Islamic Republic of Iran is ready to
pursue a diplomatic solution and make good efforts to end the crisis in
Ukraine.
"We
have announced from the very beginning that while considering the root cause of
the crisis, we are opposed to resorting to war and do not think war is a
suitable solution to problems," he added.
The
top Iranian diplomat also said Iran's relations with Ukraine have always been
based on friendship, respect and mutual interests over the past three decades.
He
pointed out that Tehran is ready to participate in an agreement for the opening
of a corridor for transportation of cereals in the Black Sea.
The
Iranian foreign minister also invited his Ukrainian counterpart to visit
Tehran.
Ukraine’s
foreign minister, for his part, thanked Iran for its opposition to war, and
said that Ukraine is ready to receive any political assistance or support to end
the crisis in his country.
Kuleba
also announced Ukraine’s readiness for all-out expansion of ties with Iran,
including in the field of agriculture and cereals.
He
described the continuation of talks between Tehran and Kiev for expanding ties
as constructive.
Kuleba
outlined the latest conflict situation in his country and thanked Iran’s
valuable efforts to end the war.
He
also invited Amir Abdollahian to pay an official visit to Ukraine.
In
relevant development in early March, Iranian President Seyed Ebrahim Rayeesi
announced his country’s preparedness to help diplomatic efforts to end the war
in Ukraine.
"The
Islamic Republic of Iran supports any effort that would lead to peaceful
settlement of the [ongoing] conflict in Ukraine and is ready to play a role to
help restore peace in any possible manner," Rayeesi said.
"Based
on the fundamental principles of its foreign policy, the Islamic Republic of
Iran opposes both hegemony and submission to hegemony, and gives its backing to
the right to all nations to self-determination," he said.
Rayeesi
underlined the need to protect territorial integrity and the national
sovereignty of all countries, and said, “The Islamic Republic of Iran
understands security concerns arising from several decades of NATO’s expansionism.”
"We
strongly believe that diplomacy and sincere adherence to international
obligations by all parties provide the sole lasting and just way out of the
current situation."
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14010410000116/FM-Iran-Spprs-Pliical-Slin-Ukraine-Crisis
--------
FM Asks for Iraq's Further Cooperation to Facilitate Iranian Hajj Pilgrims
2022-July-1
The
Iranian foreign minister made ther remarks in a telephone conversation with his
Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hossein on Thursday evening.
During
the phone talk, Amir Abdollahian urged the Iraqi government to help further
facilitate Iranian Hajj pilgrims' affairs.
The
two sides discussed expansion of bilateral relations and also the latest
developments in the region.
They
also exchanged their views on two countries’ cooperation in Hajj and Karbala
and Najaf pilgrimage affairs.
The
Iraqi foreign minister, for his part, said that the Iraqi government will
definitely keep on facilitating the Iranian Hajj pilgrims' affairs.
Hussein,
meantime, announced Baghdad's readiness to host another round of Iran-Saudi talks
in Baghdad.
In
a relevant development in early June, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution
Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei said that revelation of the Zionist regime's plots
is a definite responsibility for the Muslim pilgrims in Hajj.
“Exposing
the Zionists' plots and conspiracies is one of the essential duties in Hajj,”
Ayatollah Khamenei said, addressing the Iranian officials in charge of
organizing Hajj, the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca.
“The
Arab and non-Arab governments that moved toward normalizing their relations
with the Zionist regime, against the will of their nations and for the will of
the United States, must know that these interactions will bring them nothing
but exploitation at the hands of the Zionist regime,” he added.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Five
killed at strong earthquake rocks Iran: Media
02
July, 2022
At
least five people were killed and 19 injured when a strong earthquake shook
southern Iran early Saturday, the state news agency IRNA reported.
The
6.0 magnitude quake hit 100 kilometres (60 miles) southwest of the port city of
Bandar Abbas in Hormozgan province, the US Geological Survey said. The quake
struck just a minute after a 5.7 tremor.
Hormozgan
governor Mahdi Dosti said the quakes killed five people and injured 19 others,
IRNA reported.
Dosti
said most of the damage occurred in the village of Sayeh Khost, close to the
epicentre.
One
person was killed in November last year when Hormozgan province was hit by twin
6.4 and 6.3 magnitude quakes.
Situated
on the edge of several tectonic plates and crossing various fault lines, Iran
is an area of strong seismic activity.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Iran
nuclear talks likely to resume after Biden’s Gulf trip
01
July, 2022
European-brokered
efforts to revive the Iran nuclear deal are likely to resume following US
President Joe Biden’s visit to the region this month, after an intense round of
talks in Doha failed to overcome differences.
Two
European diplomats with direct knowledge of this week’s negotiations said that,
while talks didn’t progress, efforts to resurrect the accord were expected to
continue beyond the July deadline suggested by the UN nuclear watchdog.
A
third person familiar with the talks said efforts could resume in the Qatari
capital following Biden’s trip.
One
source briefed on the negotiations said the Doha talks had focused on oil
sanctions, adding that other areas actively under discussion are Iran’s access
to funds blocked in South Korea, sanctions on airlines and the removal of
penalties on the business operations of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The
latter is very unlikely to be agreed but the others were achievable, the source
said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the
matter.
Narrow
window
The
2015 agreement offered Iran sanctions relief, including on oil exports, in
return for curbs to its enrichment activities and intrusive International
Atomic Energy Agency inspections.
Former
US President Donald Trump pulled out of the deal in 2018 and reimposed
sanctions. President Joe Biden has sought for more than a year to revive the
deal but Iran has rapidly expanded its nuclear work while steadily dialing down
international oversight during the course of negotiations.
The
IAEA said at its last meeting on June 9 that its inspectors would no longer be
able to verify Iranian nuclear activities permitted under the accord if a
diplomatic compromise wasn’t reached within a month, setting the clock ticking
on talks.
US
officials have repeatedly said that the window for a deal is narrow as the
accelerated pace of Iran’s nuclear work threatens to make the terms of the
original deal obsolete.
Tehran’s
negotiating team also reiterated grievances over an IAEA censure issued over
Iran’s lack of cooperation with monitors, according to one of the European
diplomats.
While
IAEA investigators can report with a high degree of certainty that Iran isn’t
diverting any of its declared nuclear material, there’s less conviction about
what’s been happening inside the country’s centrifuge workshops, said the other
European diplomat. Some monitors are concerned that Iran could hedge against a
diplomatic stalemate by stashing uranium-enrichment capacity at an undeclared
location.
The
search for a compromise will probably be given until at least the third
quarter, after which the US will hold Congressional elections that could weaken
Biden’s hand.
NPT
threat
A
key meeting of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty members convenes next month
in New York. Iran has threatened to leave that bedrock bargain -- which limits
the spread of nuclear weapons, in return for access to atomic technologies --
should talks fail, resulting in the country being referred back to the United
Nations Security Council for more sanctions.
Iranian
Minister of Foreign Affairs Hossein Amirabdollahian said in a statement
Thursday his country remains determined to continue negotiations “until an
agreement that’s based on realism is reached.”
While
western officials at the talks dismissed Iran’s words as grandstanding, they
aren’t ready to slam the door on talks quite yet. Gulf nations are being
encouraged to play a more active role as the EU’s role as mediator reaches its
limit, according to the European diplomats.
“The
US also must outline a strategy for Middle Eastern stability that is not merely
based on containment and confrontation with Iran or securing a short-term
reduction in oil prices,” Iran researchers Vali Nasr and Maria Fantappie wrote
Friday in the US journal of Foreign Affairs.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Turkey
can re-export Black Sea grains to states in need: Erdogan
01
July, 2022
Turkey
can re-export grain products like wheat, oat, and barley from the Black Sea to
countries in need after talks with Russia and Ukraine, President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan said on Friday, adding he would discuss the matter with both countries
in coming days.
Ukraine
is one of the top global wheat suppliers, but shipments have been halted by
Russia’s invasion, causing global food shortages. The United Nations has
appealed to both sides, as well as maritime neighbor Turkey, to agree to a
corridor.
Speaking
after Friday prayers in Istanbul, Erdogan said his office was working with Kyiv
and Moscow to set up calls with his counterparts and that 20 Turkish vessels
were ready to take part in the potential shipments.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Erdogan
says no meeting until Greek PM ‘pulls himself together’: Report
01
July, 2022
Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said it was impossible to meet Greek Prime
Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis until the Greek leader “pulls himself together,”
broadcaster NTV said on Friday, amid renewed tensions between the NATO members
and neighbors.
Historic
rivals, Turkey and Greece have been at odds over issues ranging from
overflights and the status of Aegean islands, maritime boundaries and
hydrocarbon resources in the Mediterranean, and ethnically-split Cyprus.
Tensions
flared again recently over airspace and the status of demilitarized islands in
the Aegean. Erdogan has said Mitsotakis “no longer exists for him” after the
Greek premier lobbied for the United States not to sell Turkey F-16 fighter
jets during a speech at the US Congress.
“Let
him pull himself together. As long as he doesn’t pull himself together, it is
not possible for us to meet,” Erdogan told reporters on a return flight from a
NATO summit in Madrid.
Speaking
to reporters in Madrid on Thursday, Mitsotakis said EU member Greece was open
to dialogue with Turkey, and repeated he would not engage in a “dialogue of
personal confrontations” with Erdogan.
“I’ll
keep insisting that Greece’s door to a dialogue within the framework we have
identified, this door is always open. And at the same time, our country will
continue, whenever it has the opportunity, to raise the issues of Turkish
aggression within the European Union, bilaterally to our partners,” he said.
Mitsotakis
added Greece was “forming its own alliances” and that it wanted support from
allies on national issues, but also sought Turkey as an interlocutor.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Africa
Muslim
MPs, leaders condemn sale of pork near Muslim burials
Godfrey
Olukya
02.07.2022
KAMPALA,
Uganda
The
Ugandan Muslim Supreme Council (UMSC), Muslim members of parliament and Muslim
leaders condemned those on Friday who sell pork near Islamic burial sites.
MPs
and Muslim leaders said those who roast pork do not care if they bring their
businesses near burial sites even if funeral ceremonies are for Muslims.
UMSC
spokesman Ashraf Muvawala told Anadolu Agency that the action may lead to
Muslims being annoyed and attacks against those who engage in the process.
''What
they are doing is bad and might lead to religious wars. The Ugandan Joint
Religious Council, which has members from all religions, sat and resolved that
Ugandans should respect each other's religion. So those selling pork near us
should stop provoking us because they may end up being beaten up by angry
Muslims," said Muvawala.
A
leader in the Muslim community, Imam Hassan Kiberu, told Anadolu Agency that in
Ugandan communities if someone dies in a village, all the villagers and
relatives, near and far, irrespective of religion, attend the burial ceremony.
“Those
who sell roasted pork target the hundreds of people who turn up for the burial.
They place their charcoal or firewood stoves a small distance from the homes
where the burial is taking place and start roasting and selling pork to
people,” he said.
Muslim
members of parliament said the act is an abuse of religion and should be
immediately stopped.
“It
is very bad. There is a need for all Ugandans to respect each other’s religion.
It is not good for someone dealing in pork to sell it in a place where there
are Muslims,” MP for Busongora, Sowedi Kitanya, in the Kasese district told the
Turkish news agency.
He
said it is uncivilized – akin to throwing a bible in a mosque and there is a
need to change the mindset of those involved.
Muhammad
Kato, MP from the Mbirizzi district, said: “Local leaders in Uganda and the
leaders of all the religions in the country should educate people to respect
each other’s faith and avoid antagonizing one another.”
He
said selling pork at burials used to take place in his constituency but he
called all those involved and told them that even if they wanted to make ends
meet by selling pork to mourners, they should never sell it in places where
people of different religions are gathered.
“I
condemn that habit of selling pork at burial places. it should be stopped
immediately,” chairman of the Buikwe district, Jimmy Kanabi, told the media.
Buikwe
district chief qadi, or judge, sheikh Sadat Badhola, said selling pork where
Muslims are gathered with other members of the public is an abuse of rights and
urged authorities to pass a bylaw on the sale of pork in public places.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/muslim-mps-leaders-condemn-sale-of-pork-near-muslim-burials/2628492
--------
Nigeria:
Quran translated to Igbo language
01
July, 2022
July
2, 2022A group of Muslims from the South Eastern part of Nigeria have
successfully produced copies of the Holy Qur’an translated to Igbo language.
The
group under the aegis of Igbo Muslims Da’wah Group, launched on Friday, July
1st launch the translated text.
Representatives
of the group led by Mal. Muhammed Muritala Chukwuemeka made this known during a
courtesy call to Daily Trust in Abuja on Tuesday.
He
said the team’s mission is to spread Allah’s message to his Igbo brothers
through the translated Qur’an.
Mal.
Chukwuemeka, a native of Orlu Local Government Area of Imo State, revealed that
it took him five good years to complete the translation.
The
launching ceremony took place after Juma’at prayer at Ansar-ud-deen mosque,
Maitama in the Federal Capital Territory.
Source:
ABNA24
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://en.abna24.com/news//nigeria-quran-translated-to-igbo-language_1271654.html
--------
Nigeria
Islamic court sentences three to death by stoning for raping boys
01
July, 2022
An
Islamic court in northern Nigeria's Bauchi state has sentenced three men to
death by stoning for raping two boys, an official said Friday.
Bauchi
is among a dozen states in predominantly Muslim northern Nigeria where Sharia
law is in operation alongside common criminal justice.
The
court in the town of Ningi handed down the sentences on the trio on Wednesday,
Sharia Hisbah (police) official Adamu
Dankafi told AFP.
They
were accused of raping two boys after drugging them, he said.
Raping
minors is punishable by death under Nigeria's Sharia law, although like most
other death sentences it has never been enforced. In this case, the men were
charged under a law related to homosexual acts.
"The
Upper Sharia Court One in Ningi handed down the death sentence on the three men
for committing homosexual acts with two brothers aged 10 and 12," Dankafi
said.
"The
three are to be stoned to death as prescribed by the Bauchi state Sharia penal
code based on their confessions during interrogation by our men and before the
court," he said.
He
said the men were arrested in Gwada village in May following complaints by
parents of the two boys who said they had been drugged before the act.
Dankafi
said the men aged between 20 and 70, were not represented by a lawyer during
the one-day trial, adding that they have one month to appeal the sentence.
Source:
The New Arab
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://english.alaraby.co.uk/news/nigeria-islamic-court-sentences-3-death-raping-boys
--------
Sudan
security forces skirmish with demonstrators after protest deaths
01 July,
2022
Sudanese
security forces fired tear gas at protesters on Friday near the presidential
palace in Khartoum, a day after nine people were reported killed during the
largest anti-military rallies for months.
Protest
groups demanding a return to democratic rule have said they will organize an
open-ended campaign of sit-ins and other peaceful actions in response to the
deaths.
Medics
aligned with the protesters said the nine people were mostly killed by gunfire
from security forces in Khartoum and the adjoining cities of Omdurman and
Bahri. Sudan’s ruling council did not immediately respond to a request for
comment.
“The
sit-in can develop but we must fortify it properly,” Al-Reda al-Rasheed told
Reuters as he stood with other protesters drinking tea and writing out slogans
in central Khartoum on Friday.
“Those
who have come from Omdurman can join our sit-in and others from surrounding
areas as well can join.”
Thursday’s
rallies came after more than eight months of demonstrations against military
leaders who staged a coup last October, ending a power-sharing arrangement with
civilians agreed following the 2019 overthrow of Omar al-Bashir.
Khartoum
State police said in a statement they had used tear gas and water cannon and
made arrests on Thursday after protesters equipped with stones and metal bars
moved against their positions.
Dozens
of members of the security forces had been injured, some of them seriously, the
statement said. The police said they had received no reports on six deaths - an
apparent reference to an earlier estimated death toll from Thursday.
The
medics group - the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors - said on Friday that
another protester beaten during demonstrations in the capital a week earlier
had died of his injuries, bringing the number of protester deaths since the
coup to 113.
Rights
lawyers said at least 150 protesters had been detained on Thursday. The
military-led government has not released its own estimates of arrests or
deaths.
The
United Nations, the African Union and the Intergovernmental Authority on
Development (IGAD), which are trying to mediate, said they condemned “in the
strongest terms possible the use of excessive force by security forces” on
Thursday.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Protesters
break into Libya’s parliament building in Tobruk: Witnesses
01
July, 2022
Protesters
broke into Libya’s parliament in Tobruk on Friday evening and set a fire in
front of the building to express their anger towards Libya’s warring political
parties, witnesses told Reuters.
Security
forces protecting the parliament withdrew from the site, the witnesses added.
Demonstrations
took place on Friday in Tobruk, Benghazi and some smaller towns over a failure
of government.
Libya
has been in chaos since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that ousted Muammar
Gaddafi. In 2014, it split between warring eastern and western factions before
a peace process beginning in 2020 tried to knit the country back together.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
President
Muhammadu Buhari vows to obliterate terrorists after 43 people killed in north
central Nigeria
Ibrahim
Garba Shuaibu
02.07.2022
KANO,
Nigeria
Nigerian
President Muhammadu Buhari said Friday that the fight against terrorism
continues following a deadly attack in the northcentral town of Shiroro in
Niger State.
"We
honour our security forces, and particularly those brave souls who have given
their lives fighting against the evil that is terrorism. They constitute the
best that Nigeria has to offer and we remember each of them,” Buhari said
through his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu. “We
say it again that we have reduced Boko Haram to a shell of its former self. But
terrorists are parasites. They thrive when the world is suffering.”
Terrorists
kidnapped four Chinese nationals Thursday and killed 43 people, including
soldiers.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
North
America
Biden
to honour Khizr Khan, who lashed out at Trump's 'Muslim ban'
Holly
Aguirre
Washington
Jul
02, 2022
President
Joe Biden will present the top civilian honour to Khizr Khan, the
Pakistani-American father of a veteran killed in action who criticised Donald
Trump over his proposed “Muslim ban”.
He
is one of 17 people Mr Biden announced would receive the Medal of Freedom,
presented to Americans who have made exemplary contributions to the
“prosperity, values, or security of the United States” or other significant
endeavours, the White House announced.
Mr
Khan's son, US Army Capt Humayun Khan, was killed in Iraq in 2004 while
defending his squad from a car bomb attack.
The
elder Khan famously appeared at the Democratic National Convention in 2016
alongside his wife, Ghazala Khan, blasting Mr Trump — a candidate for the
presidency at the time — over his proposal to limit immigration from
Muslim-majority countries.
“Go
look at the graves of brave patriots who died defending the United States of
America,” Mr Khan said to Mr Trump.
“You
will see all faiths, genders and ethnicities. You have sacrificed nothing and
no one.”
When
asked about his own sacrifices, Mr Trump later said he works “very, very hard”
and “created thousands and thousands of jobs”.
In
its citation, the White House said Mr Khan is a founder of the Constitution
Literacy and National Unity Centre and is “a prominent advocate for the rule of
law and religious freedom”.
He
also served on the US Commission on International Religious Freedom under Mr
Biden.
Created
by president John F Kennedy in 1963, the Medal of Freedom is the civilian
equivalent of the military's Medal of Honour.
Among
the other recipients announced on Friday are actor Denzel Washington, gymnast
Simone Biles and the late John McCain, the Arizona Republican with whom Mr
Biden served in the US Senate.
“They
have overcome significant obstacles to achieve impressive accomplishments in
the arts and sciences, dedicated their lives to advocating for the most
vulnerable among us and acted with bravery to drive change in their communities
— and across the world — while blazing trails for generations to come,” the
White House said of the honourees.
The
awards will be presented at the White House on July 7, 2022.
Mr
Biden himself is a medal recipient. Former president Barack Obama honoured Mr
Biden's public service as a long-time US senator and vice president a week
before they left office.
Biles
is the most decorated US gymnast in history, winning 32 Olympic and World
Championship medals.
McCain,
who died of brain cancer in 2018, spent more than five years in captivity in
Vietnam while serving in the US Navy.
Washington
is a double Oscar-winning actor, director and producer. He is a long-time
spokesman for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
Other
recipients will include former congresswoman Gabby Giffords of Arizona, who was
shot in the head in January 2011 during a constituent event in Tucson and has
since become a strong advocate for gun control.
Steve
Jobs, the co-founder, chief executive and chair of Apple and the son of a
Syrian immigrant will receive the honour posthumously. He died in 2011.
Megan
Rapinoe, an Olympic gold medallist, two-time Women's World Cup football
champion and advocate for gender pay equality and racial justice, is another
athlete that will be honoured.
Source:
The National News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Palestinians
pin scant hope on President Biden visit after setbacks under Trump
01
July, 2022
As
the United States strives to boost defense ties between Israel and Arab states,
Palestinians await with increasing gloom the first visit of President Joe Biden
after what they see as a string of broken promises by Washington.
Requests
for the reopening of the US consulate in East Jerusalem, closed by former
President Donald Trump, or lifting the classification of the Palestine Liberation
Organization as a terrorist organization have gone unheard, Palestinians say.
“We
have no illusions that the visit will achieve a political breakthrough. We will
be listening to more pledges and promises,” a senior Palestinian official said.
Biden
will visit Israel and the West Bank, meeting Israeli leaders and Abbas, as well
as Saudi Arabia from July 13-16.
A
spokesperson for the US Office of Palestinian Affairs said Washington believed
a two-state solution was the best way for both Israel and the Palestinians to
resolve their generations-long conflict.
It
was also committed to reopening the consulate, seen by Palestinians as an
implicit recognition of East Jerusalem’s status as capital of a future
Palestinian state on territory occupied by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war.
In
a call with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday, Abbas urged the
administration to put pressure on Israel to preserve the historic status quo in
East Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa mosque compound there. Israel rejects
allegations that it has tried to change the status quo.
Palestinians
also say Israel’s continued settlement activities in the occupied West Bank dim
any prospect for a viable Palestinian state co-existing alongside Israel.
“Abbas
told Blinken the situation can’t continue like this,” the official said.
Focus
on Israeli-Arab ties
US
officials reject the assertion that the Biden administration has broken its
pledges to the Palestinians and point to changes after the breakdown of
relations under the administration of former President Donald Trump.
They
say reopening the consulate would require Israeli cooperation and they that
removing the PLO’s terrorist designation would require the Palestinian
Authority to take steps it has so far failed to do.
Despite
Palestinian disappointment, they say Biden has restarted aid and reopened lines
of communication. The administration has also criticized Israeli settlement
expansion as inconsistent with peace prospects, after the Trump administration
signaled acceptance of such activities.
“Recall
that we walked into a situation in which our ties with the Palestinians were
totally severed (by the Trump administration). So we turned back on the
funding, rebuilt relationships …. And there will be more to come,” a senior Biden
administration official said.
But
the intense focus on boosting security cooperation between Israel and
US-aligned Arab countries to confront a potential threat from Iran means that
any move towards a wider resolution of the Palestinian issue remains far off,
according to Talal Okal, a political analyst in Gaza.
“Biden
will do nothing to change the existing reality,” he said. “There is no horizon
for the Palestinian-Israel conflict.”
The
Biden visit comes amid increasing speculation over the future of Abbas, an
86-year-old chain smoker with a history of health problems who has ruled by
decree since 2005, when the last Palestinian election was held.
The
Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in parts of the West
Bank, received a boost last month when the European Union agreed to restore
funding frozen by a dispute over school textbooks.
There
has also been increased pressure on Israel, including from the Biden
administration, for action on the fatal shooting of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen
Abu Akleh as she was covering an Israeli army raid in the West Bank town of
Jenin.
But
further progress has been complicated by the turmoil that saw Israeli Prime
Minister Naftali Bennett’s coalition government collapse, with an election now
scheduled for Nov. 1.
With
an uncertain political road ahead, there is little likelihood of anything more
than a minimum of US economic aid for Palestinians, said political analyst Hani
Al-Masri.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Arab
Americans losing major benefits from US Census’ ‘discriminatory’ exclusion
RAY
HANANIA
July
01, 2022
CHICAGO:
The continued exclusion of Arab Americans from being counted in the decennial
US Census is “another form of discrimination,” resulting in the loss of
financial benefits and critical data needed for healthcare and other programs,
according to Samer Khalaf, national president of the American Arab
Anti-Discrimination Committee.
During
an interview on The Ray Hanania Show on the US Arab Radio Network and sponsored
by Arab News, the ADC leader said that while he favors using the term “Arab” on
the census, the community consensus to use MENA, or Middle East and North
African, has the support of the Biden administration and cuts through the many
divisions in the community.
Being
excluded in the census, Khalaf said, has resulted in Arab Americans losing
benefits — from receiving federal grants to being included in congressional
political empowerment programs.
“It’s
not just that we lost things. We never got anything that we were entitled to
get. It’s not just a financial aspect. There hasn’t been a National Institute
Health Study on the Arab community, ever. And the reason why is because there
are no reliable data that can be used in the study because we are not counted.
We have become the invisible minority,” Khalaf told Arab News.
“So,
there are things other than financial that we are not getting. We don’t know
what our COVID infection rates are. We don’t know what the percentage of our
community is vaccinated because that data is simply not collected. It is beyond
just financial detriment to our community. We have lost a lot of stuff … we
don’t even realize.”
Khalaf
emphasized: “It (the census exclusion) is discrimination because it is
basically keeping us out of a lot of the programs that we think we are entitled
to. Moreover, it is treating us as if we don’t exist. Literally as we don’t
exist at all in this country and that is the biggest problem that we have.”
Khalaf
said that over the years the diversity of the Arab world and Middle East has
actually played against the US government embracing the term “Arab” as the
possible designation on a future census, possibly in 2030. That’s why the
emphasis has been on “MENA.”
“The
ADC’s always number one preference is ‘Arab.’ That’s always been the case. We
use the term and will use the term, and continue to use the term in the future.
Our biggest (concern), again, what we thought the big picture was, is that as
long as we were counted as a separate and distinct group, Arab (or) MENA, we
just need to be counted,” Khalaf said.
“We
want the issue to be transformed away from what (term is) to be used, to be
that we are counted. Let’s step aside (from) the issue and what terms we are
going to use and at least get the issue of being counted done and out of the
way. That’s why we, as an organization, said fine. If it is going to be MENA,
as long as we are counted, we are okay with that.”
Khalaf
said that the Arab community has failed to receive its share of federal
government support which ranges from funding to political recognition, and
support for cultural and health programs.
One
example of how Arabs have been marginalized, Khalaf said, is in the
government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the pandemic’s impact on
Arab Americans. He said that the government has instead asked the Arab
community to gather the necessary community data that is needed to qualify Arab
families and businesses for COVID-19 relief.
“One
of the pushbacks we are getting from the federal government is … that there are
no statistics, or there are no numbers as to how many Arab American businesses
are there. Where are they located? Are they successful? They want to know from
us do we have issues getting loans. Are our interest rates higher than others
because of discrimination? That information is not available,” Khalaf said.
“They
went to us and charged us to collect that information. So the ADC right now is
doing a study. We are trying to collect data. We are asking Arab American
business owners all over the country to fill out a questionnaire that we have
on our website which is on ADCRI.org.
“Business
owners can go there and fill out a questionnaire. It will be anonymous so
nobody knows who they are. But at least we can now get the data and take that
data to the government and say hey look, here is the data we have for you. Now
give us the minority business designation.”
“It
changed and transformed the landscape. So we did see issues regarding our own
businesses. We saw other problems develop because of COVID. And a lot of that
had to do more or less with our community unable to sort of fully tap all the
benefits that the federal government and state government are offering to the
individuals.
“And
some of that was because of our own lack of knowledge. Some of it was because
of the barrier to our language, language barriers. And some of it was the fact
that as a community, we are not recognized. We are still classified as White.
So we were (by) definition not even able to get some of those benefits.”
Khalaf
said that exclusion from the census as “Arab” or “MENA” “holds us back,” and
Arabs have become an “underserved community” when it comes to providing
resources to address challenges that face all communities, including family
services, domestic violence, disability, mental health and healthcare.
“We
are denied the resources for us to know how these issues impact our community
and how serious they are,” he said.
Khalaf
said that the Arab community came close to being fully included in the census
during the administration of President Barack Obama, but noted that former
president Donald Trump blocked it. President Joe Biden, he said, is “reviewing
it.”
“Chances
are it is going to happen. It is a matter of time. But we need to be vigilant,”
Khalaf said.
“We
need to hold the census and OMB — and don’t forget that the OMB is an important
player in all of this, the Office of Management and Budget. OMB is the one that
defines the classification, and we need to hold their feet to the fire and say
this was a done deal and you were about to do it if not for the former
administration.”
Source:
Arab News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2114851/world
--------
Turkey
blocks access to Deutsche Welle and Voice of America
July
01, 2022
ISTANBUL:
Turkey’s media watchdog has banned access to the Turkish services of US public
service broadcaster Voice of America and German broadcaster Deutsche Welle,
prompting complaints of censorship.
The
Supreme Board of Radio and Television enforced a February warning to the two
companies which air Turkish-language television content online to apply for a
broadcast license or be blocked. An Ankara court ruled to restrict access to
their websites late Thursday.
Neither
website was available in Turkey on Friday. Deutsche Welle is German
taxpayer-funded and Voice of America is funded by the US government through the
US Agency for Global Media.
In
a statement, Deutsche Welle said it did not comply with the licensing
requirement because it “would have allowed the Turkish government to censor
editorial content.”
Director
general Peter Limbourg said this was explained in detail to the Turkish radio
and TV board, abbreviated as RTUK.
“For
example, media licensed in Turkey are required to delete online content that
RTUK interprets as inappropriate. This is simply unacceptable for an independent
broadcaster. DW will take legal action against the blocking that has now taken
place,” Limbourg said.
The
German government said it took note of the reports “with regret.”
“Our
concern about the state of freedom of opinion and the press in Turkey
continues,” government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said, adding that Germany
is in a “regular, critical exchange” with Turkey on the issue.
Asked
whether the German government can intervene in this case, Hebestreit noted that
Deutsche Welle has said it plans to take legal action “and we have to wait for
that.”
RTUK
dismissed any criticism in a statement on its website Friday, saying that “no
one needs to have uncertainties on the freedom of expression or press, worry
unnecessarily or incriminate our Supreme Board that is doing its duties based
on legal grounds.”
The
RTUK statement added that had the media organizations “acted in line with
regulations,” there wouldn’t have been access bans. It also promised to request
from the court that the restrictions be revoked if the websites launch
companies in Turkey and get licensed.
But
Ilhan Tasci, a RTUK member from Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s
Party, said he opposed the move to block the two foreign broadcasters. “Here is
press freedom and advanced democracy,” he tweeted sarcastically.
The
RTUK board is dominated by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling
party and its nationalist allies, and regularly fines critical broadcasters.
Thursday’s
move is based on an August 2019 regulation that says the RTUK would give
72-hour advance notice to unlicensed online media regarding when they had to
apply and pay three months of licensing fees. Failure to do so could result in
legal action against a media organization’s executives and access restrictions.
In
February, RTUK said it identified three websites without broadcast licenses,
which also included the Turkish services of Euronews. But Euronews said it
argued that it did not broadcast live in Turkish or air visual bulletins and
was therefore exempt from the licensing requirements.
The
Journalists’ Union of Turkey called the decision censorship. “Give up on trying
to ban everything you don’t like, this society wants freedom,” it tweeted.
Voice
of America noted in February that while licensing for TV and radio broadcasts
is a norm because broadcast airwaves are finite resources, the Internet does
not have limited bandwidth. “The only possible purpose of a licensing
requirement for Internet distribution is enabling censorship,” VOA said in a
statement then.
State
Department spokesman Ned Price tweeted when the licensing regulation emerged in
February that the US was concerned with RTUK’s “decision to expand government
control over free press outlets.”
In
response, Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgic noted that the US
required Turkey’s state English-language broadcaster, TRT World, to register as
a foreign agent under a law intended for lobbyists and public relations firms
working for foreign governments. TRT said it was newsgathering and reporting
like any other international media but had to register as a foreign agent in
2020.
“TRT
abides by relevant regulations for its activities in the US Is that censorship?
We expect the same from @VoATurkish and others,” Bilgic tweeted.
Turkey
was rated “Not Free” for 2021 on the Freedom of the Net index by Freedom House.
Hundreds of thousands of domains and web addresses have been blocked.
Source:
Arab News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2114811/media
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UN
report highlights crippling impact of 15 years of Israel's Gaza siege
01
July 2022
Marking
the 15th anniversary of the Israeli regime’s crippling siege of the Gaza Strip,
a United Nations report highlights the monumental toll the blockade has taken
on the coastal enclave’s population.
The
report was released by the United Nations’ Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Thursday.
The
deadly blockade imposed on Gaza 15 years ago for electing the popular
resistance movement Hamas turned the enclave into an open-air prison.
The
occupying regime brought the entire enclave under the land, aerial, and naval
blockade in June 2007. The blockade has over the years turned worse.
Access
to outside world
About
2.1 million Palestinians in the besieged enclave are ‘locked in,’ with vast
majority of them unable to access the remainder of the OPT (Occupied
Palestinian Territories) and the outside world, the UN report states.
So
far in 2022, the Israeli authorities have approved only 64 percent of patients’
requests to exit Gaza mainly for specialized treatment in the nearby
Palestinian territory of the West Bank, OCHA said.
“In
previous years, patients have died while awaiting a response to their
application,” it added.
Gaza’s
Rafah border crossing with Egypt, the sliver’s only way of accessing the
outside world, “was open for 95 days out of 151 in the first five months of
2022.”
“The
volume of truckloads entering Gaza in the first five months of 2022, around
8,000 per month, was about 30% below the monthly average for the first half of
2007, before the blockade. Since then, the population has grown by more than
50%,” OCHA stated.
Limitations
imposed on border with OPT
The
Israeli regime has also largely restricted access to areas within 300 meters of
the Gaza side of the perimeter fence with the occupied territories, the report
said, adding that areas lying several hundred meters beyond are deemed not
safe, preventing, or discouraging, agricultural activities.
Israeli
forces have also restricted access off Gaza’s coast, currently only allowing
fishermen to access 50 percent of the fishing waters allocated for this purpose
under the Oslo Accords with the Israeli regime.
Unemployment,
food insecurity
As
a result of the siege, unemployment levels in Gaza are among the highest in the
world, the report said, noting that “the Q1 jobless rate in 2022 was 46.6%,
compared with an average of 34.8% in 2006.”
As
many as 1.3 million out of the 2.1 million Palestinians in Gaza (62 percent)
require food assistance, OCHA stated.
"Longstanding
access restrictions imposed by the Israeli authorities have undermined Gaza’s
economy, resulting in high unemployment, food insecurity and aid
dependency," the report reads, citing restrictions on the marketing of
goods in the West Bank and Israel, on the entry of certain goods to Gaza, and
on the access of people to agricultural land and fishing waters in Gaza itself.
Electricity,
water crisis
At
its current operating capacity, the Gaza Power Plant can only produce up to 80
megawatts (MW), supplemented by 120 MW purchased from the Israeli regime,
meeting about 50 percent of the electricity demand in Gaza (400-450 MW), the UN
report notes.
In
2021, rolling power cuts averaged 11 hours per day, it adds.
Also,
up to 78 percent of piped water in Gaza is unfit for human consumption, the
report states further.
It
concluded that the blockade on Gaza should be "fully lifted in line with
[the UN] Security Council Resolution 1860", while adding that
"improvements can still be made within the framework of the blockade
regarding easing the restrictions on the entry and exit of people and goods.”
West
Bank clashes
Meanwhile,
Israeli forces on Friday attacked anti-occupation protests in the village of
Kafr Qaddum near the city of Qalqilya, which is located in the northwestern
part of the occupied West Bank.
According
to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, at least 92 Palestinians were injured
in the attack, which saw Israeli forces cracking down on demonstrators with
rubber-coated bullets and teargas canisters, according to reports.
For
many years, people from Kafr Qaddum and other neighboring villages have been
holding weekly protests every Friday against Israeli settlement construction,
demanding an end to the regime's settler-colonialism project.
In
a separate development on Friday, Israeli forces attacked a Palestinian woman’s
funeral in the town of Beit Ummar, in the southern West Bank province of Hebron,
Palestinian media citing sources as saying.
According
to Shehab News Agency, the occupying soldiers attacked the coffin of the
deceased Palestinian woman as well as the pallbearers as the funeral passed
through the main entrance to the town.
Source:
Press TV
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2022/07/01/684882/Israel-siege-Gaza-Strip-United-Nations-report
--------
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/tolerate-blasphemy-nabi-muslim-cleric-violence/d/127388