Pasmanda Muslim Mahaz Highlights Plight Of Community That Surpasses Dalits, Demand For Scheduled Caste Tag

New Age Islam News Bureau

06 March 2024

 

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·         Pasmanda Muslim Mahaz Highlights Plight Of Community That Surpasses  Dalits, Demand For Scheduled Caste Tag

·         Israel PM Says No Restrictions on Al-Aqsa Mosque During Ramadan, Ignores Firebrand Minister Ben-Gvir’s Demand

·         Bangladesh PM Suggests Muslim Countries To Introduce Common Currency

·         Minnesota Suburban Women And Jewish Activists Join Muslims In 'Uncommitted' Protest Vote Over Biden’s Israel Policy

·         Frankfurt Is First German City To Install Celebratory Lighting To Commemorate Ramadan

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India

·         School Students in Rajasthan Show It Is Easy to Be a Hindu Standing up For Muslims

·         A Court  in UP Says  Ittehad-e-Millat Council Chief ‘Mastermind’ Of 2010 Communal Riots, Summons Him On March 11

·         How Pakistani and Chinese hackers tried to bring down Ram Mandir website during Pran Pratistha ceremony

·         Uttarakhand UCC: Gender Equality Was Never Its Intention

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Mideast

·         Mosques In Istanbul Prepare For Ramadan With Traditional Mahya Illuminations

·         'Overwhelming expectation' for Muslim nations to act on Gaza, even if 'unilaterally': Turkish foreign minister

·         Palestinian president says security, peace achieved by ending Israeli occupation

·         UNRWA accuses Zionist enemy of torturing employees to prove connection to Hamas

·         Iranian president warns of 'outburst of anger’ among world’s youths over Israeli crimes

·         Genocide in Gaza continues, cemeteries no longer accommodate martyrs on its 51st consecutive day: report

·         Israel's southern communities prepare for potential violence during Ramadan

·         Hezbollah targets occupied Palestine with dozens of missiles

·         Hamas says it will continue negotiating for ceasefire as Ramadan nears

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South Asia

·         Fostering A Sense Of National Unity Deputy PM Declares Islamic Emirate as a Product of the People

·         Ensuring Security, Facilitating Social Welfare, Islamic Emirate’s Top Priority, Hanafi

·         UNSC to Meet on Afghanistan on Wednesday: Faiq

·         Islamic Emirate Army Chief: US Controls Afghan Airspace

·         Media Violation Monitoring Commission Discusses Press Regulations

·         Deputy PM Calls on Afghan Traders Abroad to Contribute to Homeland’s Prosperity

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North America

·         US President Says Cease-Fire Deal Is 'In Hands Of' Hamas

·         Canada Faces Legal Action Over Arms Exports To Israel

·         Blinken meets with Qatari counterpart, says there is 'opportunity' for cease-fire in Gaza

·         Blinken urges Israel to take 'urgent steps' to expand humanitarian aid in Gaza

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Europe

·         Nine Years After Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’, Muslims Launch A Counterpart “Al-Mizan: A Covenant for the Earth”

·         Britain To Warn Israel’s Gantz Over Famine In Gaza

·         UK To Create 'Blacklist' Of Muslim Groups Under New Extremism Definition

·         France arrests three teens over links to Brussels jihadist suspects

·         London police chief rebukes PM’s criticism of handling of Palestine protests

·         Ukraine’s Muslim Military Chaplains Fight for Recognition

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Africa

·         “Muslim-Muslim Ticket Not A Solution To Nigeria’s Challenges” – Shariah Council

·         South Africa Warns Of ‘Unbelievable Tragedy’ If Talks Fail On Cease-Fire In Gaza

·         Sudan soon to be ‘world’s largest hunger crisis’: WFP

·         About 100K displaced in Mozambique over renewed violence

·         Kebbi to Provide Ramadan Relief to Masses, Free Petrol to Farmers

·         Guinea-Bissau president holds talks with Palestine's Abbas

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Pakistan

·         Imran To Decide On Reconciliation With Establishment: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa CM

·         Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Demands Release Of Imran Khan, Other Party Leaders Through Resolution In National Assembly

·         KP Medical Teaching Institutions Hope For Govt Funding After Tehreek-i-Insaf’s Return To Power

·         Imran’s lawyer claims Azam gave ‘differing’ statements in cipher case

·         Govt to further promote local languages, literature & cultures of all regions: PM

·         Munir Akram praises UNRWA's role as lifeline for Palestinian refugees

·         Ahsan Iqbal supports call for judicial inquiry into May 9 riots

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Arab World

·         OIC Chief Calls For UNRWA Funding Surge In Speech Condemning Israeli Aggression

·         Saudi FM Warns Israel Against Offensive In Rafah During OIC Meeting

·         Saudi cabinet urges global action for opening humanitarian corridors in Gaza

·         KSrelief Delivers Tonnes Of Dates To Yemen, Pakistan

·         ‘Light Of Our Nights’ Show To Brighten Ramadan in Riyadh

·         Saudi FM meets with counterparts from Iran, Algeria, and Bangladesh on sidelines of OIC meeting on Gaza

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Australia

·         ASEAN, Australia Call For ‘Immediate And Durable’ Ceasefire In Gaza

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Southeast Asia

·         Jokowi Affirms Solidarity With Palestine At ASEAN-Australia Summit

·         IGP: Police finish taking Hadi’s statement over remark that led to Selangor Sultan’s rebuke

·         Singapore police probe posters put up in NTU toilet claiming university funding Israel in Gaza war

·         MAIWP channels RM19.03m in Ihya’ Ramadan donations to 871 mosques, surau

·         South China Sea: Malaysia committed to peaceful dispute resolution, says Anwar

Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau

URL:    https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/pasmanda-muslim-mahaz-dalit/d/131861

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Pasmanda Muslim Mahaz Highlights Plight Of Community That Surpasses  Dalits, Demand For Scheduled Caste Tag

 

Representational image

File picture

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06.03.24

Dev Raj

The All India Pasmanda Muslim Mahaz (AIPMM) unveiled statistics concerning the dire condition of backward and extremely backward Muslims in Bihar on Tuesday, asserting that their plight surpasses that of Dalits in society.

The organisation presented a set of demands aimed at improving the status of “Pasmanda” (backward, extremely backward Muslims) and urged them to distance themselves from communal, orthodox and regressive parties such as the BJP or Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM, as they merely represent “two sides of the same coin” and bolster each other.

According to a caste-based survey conducted by the Bihar government in 2023, Muslims constitute 17.7 per cent of the state’s population of 13.07 crore, spanning across 38 castes.

“Muslim society isn’t a monolithic, homogenous entity. Among the total Muslim population, 72.52 per cent belong to seven other backward castes (OBC) and 28 extremely backward castes (EBC). The social, educational, and economic conditions of some of these castes are worse than those of Dalits in society. Over 30 per cent of Pasmanda families live below the poverty line, with incomes less than Rs 6000 per month,” said AIPMM national president and former MP Ali Anwar.

Anwar further highlighted that one of the primary demands for the advancement of Pasmanda Muslims was to grant scheduled caste (SC) status to the most marginalised among them.

“These castes like Bhatiyara, Madari, Mararia, Halalkhor, Bhangi, Lalbegia and others should be included in the SC category. The government should increase the SC quota to provide reservations under this category,” Anwar said.

Established in 1998, the AIPMM noted that even Prime Minister Narendra Modi was cognisant of the dire conditions of Pasmanda Muslims, despite failing to take any action to alleviate their plight.

It also called for a caste census in the country and reservation in private sector jobs.

Source: telegraphindia.com

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https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/muslim-body-highlights-plight-of-pasmanda-community-demand-for-scheduled-caste-tag/cid/2005030

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Israel PM Says No Restrictions on Al-Aqsa Mosque During Ramadan, Ignores Firebrand Minister Ben-Gvir’s Demand

 

A Palestinian woman prays at the al-Aqsa compound, also known to Jews as the Temple Mount, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, in Jerusalem's Old City. (Image: Reuters)

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MARCH 06, 2024

Shankhyaneel Sarkar

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday said that there will be no new restrictions on worshippers’ access to the Temple Mount/Al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan. He said the decision to let worshippers into the compound will be re-evaluated each week but worshippers will be permitted to enter the compound during the first week of Ramadan.

“Israel’s policy has always been and will always remain to maintain the freedom of worship for all religions in Temple Mount/Al-Aqsa Mosque. We’ve always acted this way during Ramadan, and we’ll do the same now as well. We’ll do everything to maintain the freedom of worship while appropriately maintaining security and safety needs, allowing all Muslims to celebrate the holiday,” he further added.

Israeli national security minister and firebrand right-wing leader Itamar Ben-Gvir lashed out at his boss following the announcement. “(This shows that) Netanyahu and the war cabinet think that nothing happened on October 7. This decision puts Israel’s citizens in danger and could give Hamas a victory image,” Ben-Gvir said. He had demanded a limit to the entry of worshippers to the Temple Mount/Al Aqsa mosque compound.

A report by Israeli news agency Haaretz said that the Israeli security service Shin Bet opposed Ben-Gvir’s view. Netanyahu’s office later pushed back at the reports, saying the premier “made a balanced decision that allows freedom of religion with necessary security limits, which have been set by professional officials”.

Clashes between Palestinian Muslims and Israelis at the Temple Mount/Al Aqsa mosque compound have increased over the past few years. It should also be noted that in the last two years, after several years the month of Ramadan collided with Passover, Israel’s Independence Day and other Jewish holidays.

In recent years, Israel has imposed restrictions on worshipers visiting the Temple Mount/Al Aqsa mosque compound during Ramadan if clashes broke out during it or if it was celebrated during a Jewish holiday, news agency Haaretz said in its report.

Since the war in 1967, a status quo arrangement between Israel, the Palestinians and Jordan has been in place which prevents non-Muslim worship there and allows visits from non-Muslims at specific times. Jordan is the custodian of Christian and Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem.

United Arab List leader MK Mansour Abbas praised Netanyahu’s move. He urged the Arab community in Israel to “exercise their right to worship and observe the holiday in the coming month, while abiding by the law and maintaining public order”.

“We should not take this chance and endanger [ourselves]. It is impossible that [Israeli] women and children are taken hostage in Gaza, and we will allow Hamas to celebrate its victory on the Temple Mount,” Ben-Gvir said. It should be noted that Hamas’ cited alleged attacks on Palestinians in Al-Aqsa mosque during 2023 Ramadan festivities as one of the reasons behind the October 7 attacks.

Source: news18.com

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https://www.news18.com/world/israel-pm-netanyahu-says-no-restrictions-on-al-aqsa-mosque-during-ramadan-ignores-firebrand-ministers-demand-8805384.html

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Bangladesh PM Suggests Muslim Countries To Introduce Common Currency

 

Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina

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Mar 6, 2024

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday suggested that the Muslim countries introduce a common currency like the euro of the European Union to facilitate trade and commerce among them.

"It would be very good if we can introduce a common currency following the European Union to facilitate trade and commerce among us," she said.

The prime minister said this while a delegation of D-8 trade ministers led by Turkish Deputy Minister of Trade Mustafa Tizcu called on her at her official residence Gono Bhaban.

PM's Speech writer M Nazrul Islam briefed the reporters after the meeting.

Hasina said the D-8 was formed with the eight Muslim-majority countries of the world aiming to enhance the trade and commerce among them along with improving friendship to develop the socioeconomic status of the people of these countries.

The grouping comprises Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey.

"My aim is to improve the fate and socioeconomic development of the common people. It is possible only when we will be able to enhance trade and commerce among us," she said.

Source: thedailystar.net

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https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/muslim-countries-pm-suggests-common-currency-3560026

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Minnesota Suburban Women And Jewish Activists Join Muslims In 'Uncommitted' Protest Vote Over Biden’s Israel Policy

 

People react as election results are broadcast at an uncommitted Minnesota watch party during the presidential primary in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Super Tuesday, March 5, 2024

Photo: (STEPHEN MATUREN/AFP)

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MARCH 06, 2024

US President Joe Biden is expected to sweep Minnesota's Democratic primary, but some suburban women and Jewish activists are joining Muslim Americans in an "uncommitted" protest vote over his Israel policy, voter interviews show.

Biden, 81, has been dogged by anger and a growing, organised backlash from some members of his own party over his staunch support for Israel as the US ally's carnage, dubbed "genocide" by many countries and Palestinians, in besieged Gaza has created a humanitarian catastrophe and killed over 30,000 people.

Minnesota's hastily organised "uncommitted" vote push comes after more than 100,000 joined a similar protest in Michigan's Democratic primary. Organisers say they don't expect it to attract the same 13 percent of all votes, or about one in eight, as Michigan did.

But it is getting backers from a wide range of Democrats in and around Minneapolis and St. Paul, known as the Twin Cities, the Reuters news agency interviews show.

Walter Fromm, 26, a Minneapolis activist and self-described "anti-Zionist Jew," said his grassroots group "Take Action Minnesota" has been supporting the "uncommitted" campaign.

"I've reached out to my entire Jewish community here in the Twin Cities," he said, as well as friends across the United States.

"We need a permanent ceasefire now. We need aid and restoration and support for 1.9 million starving Palestinians in Gaza."

Fromm predicts the "uncommitted" movement, which is organising in Georgia and Pennsylvania, among other battleground states, will "continue to grow ... state by state and continue to win delegates."

'Hold our side accountable'

While the general election pits party against party, the primary is a space for Democrats to "hold our own side accountable, to really make them listen to what the people want," said Charlie Bartlett, 27, a development associate at a literary arts nonprofit, who said she was voting uncommitted in Richfield, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis.

Some cited Vice President Kamala Harris's call for a temporary ceasefire on Sunday on the historic bridge in Selma, Alabama, show the administration, and particularly the vice president, are listening to uncommitted protests.

"I don't think the vice president would have made such a sweeping statement if Super Tuesday wasn't happening, and we have been seeing the same thing with President Biden," said Asma Nizami, an organiser of Vote Uncommitted in Minnesota.

"Because it's going national and because there are other states that are part of this," the administration can't sweep it aside, she said.

Harris called out Israel on Sunday for not doing enough to allow aid into Gaza, where she said people were suffering from inhumane conditions and a "humanitarian catastrophe," going further in her remarks critiquing the Middle Eastern country's government than Biden has.

The speech had been read and edited by Biden's National Security Council in advance, which is standard practice, officials say.

Harris later sought to tamp down suggestions that there was any distance between her and the president on the issue, telling reporters on Monday that the two were "aligned."

Biden "hears the voters participating in the 'Uncommitted' campaigns," said a Biden campaign official, who did not want to be identified by name.

"He shares their goal for a just, lasting peace - and he's working tirelessly to that end," she said, pointing to the vice president's comments and recent US airdrops of food in Gaza.

"Uncommitted" activists have been "clear that they don't support President Trump, and many have gone so far as to say this push is about making Biden a stronger candidate for November," the campaign official said.

Source: trtworld.com

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https://www.trtworld.com/us-and-canada/minnesota-jewish-activists-join-muslims-in-uncommitted-protest-vote-17244006

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Frankfurt Is First German City To Install Celebratory Lighting To Commemorate Ramadan

 

The city has begun hanging the lights near the Alte Oper concert hall in the centre of the city, and will keep them up for the month of Ramadan

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March 05, 2024

Thomas Brooke

Frankfurt has become the first German city to install celebratory lighting to commemorate the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

City contractors have been setting up the lighting since Monday morning, with cranes being used to erect the lettering, stars, crescent moons, and lanterns, ahead of the Muslim event which begins on March 10.

“By decorating during Ramadan, the city of Frankfurt is sending an important signal to Muslims and appreciates the people of Muslim faith in this city,” the governing German Green Party wrote in an application to the city council last year.

“They are lights of togetherness, against reservations, against discrimination, against anti-Muslim racism, and also against anti-Semitism,” said Frankfurt Mayor Nargess Eskandari-Grünberg, of the same party.

The move follows that of London, which installed its own Ramadan celebrations for the first time last year in Piccadilly Circus under Muslim Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan.

According to German newspaper Bild, the lights will be hung on five steel cables above the city’s pedestrianized zone and cost approximately €100,000.

It is estimated that around 150,000 Muslims now live in the German city – comprising almost 15 percent of its total population.

Source: rmx.news

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https://www.rmx.news/germany/frankfurt-is-first-german-city-to-install-ramadan-decorations/

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India

School Students in Rajasthan Show It Is Easy to Be a Hindu Standing up For Muslims

Apoorvanand

06.03.24

Can the Muslims of India only hope to have normal days when the Hindus around them stand up to Hindutva excesses?

This question struck me after I read about the demonstration and agitation by Hindu students of a higher secondary school in the Khajuri village in Rajasthan’s Kota, protesting against the suspension of their Muslim teachers.

Three Muslim teachers of the school were accused of making students offer namaz and putting pressure on them for religious conversion. In a memorandum given to the state’s controversial education minister Madan Dilawar, the Sarva Hindu Samaj – a joint platform of Hindutva organisations – alleged that these teachers were engaged in ‘Islamic jihadi activities’, ‘religious conversion’ and ‘love jihad‘.

It was said that these teachers had conspired to convert a Hindu girl of the village and get her married to a Muslim boy. The girl’s family, along with this forum, had already issued threats to these teachers. The clinching basis for this allegation turned out to be the fact that ‘Islam’ was written in the school register in the religion column next to the girl’s name. This, they alleged, proves that she was converted into Islam in the school.

The girl issued a statement saying that she was an adult and that she married a Muslim man of her own free will. She also said that she has not become a Muslim and continues to be a Hindu. But the allegation kept being repeated. Minister Dilawar then jumped in and made allegations against the Muslim teachers. Soon, the teachers were suspended. A video statement, allegedly made by a school student, started circulating in which he said that these teachers forced him to offer namaz in the school and were engaged in religious conversion efforts.

All this does not surprise us and has become very normal in the India of our times. But what happened next was unexpected and unprecedented in many ways. The students of the school demonstrated in front of the authorities against the punishment given to their teachers. They said that the allegations levelled against their teachers were baseless and absurd. Even the boy who had said on camera that he was forced to offer namaz came forward and said that his statement was false and that he was forced to do make it.

The principal and other teachers of the school have also supported their fellow teachers. They also called these allegations baseless. The young woman marriage had nothing to do with the school and these teachers, they said. Writing ‘Islam’ against her name in the school register was a mistake.

One must note that the majority of students in the school are Hindus and the remaining teachers are all Hindus. This fact makes their stand very significant. That a Hindu should speak up for a Muslim is an exception and a surprise in today’s India. But the ordinary Hindu students and teachers of Khajuri showed that this is very easy to do. To do this all you need to have the sense of right and wrong.

But this is now an anomaly. Are there such Hindus still left in India who not only find injustice towards Muslims bad but are also ready to take the trouble of fighting against it?

It is not easy to stand in front of the abovementioned Sarva Hindu Samaj, the Bajrang Dal, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or the Bharatiya Janata Party because there significant power in and behind them. Very often we have seen that the police and administration are also with them.

We know that good people cannot always stand before goons. They may disagree with their injustice, it might pain them, but the cost of protesting against it is very high. That is why, after Muslim teachers were punished, what their students and colleagues did in their solidarity is a remarkable yet difficult thing to want to see repeated.

This raises the question as to whether, in order for Muslims to live a normal life, their neighbours will have to be exceptionally righteous and courageous.

A few months ago, a Muslim teacher narrated to me the story of his search for a house in Delhi. He told me how difficult it was for him to get a house because he was a Muslim. The house where he lived earlier belonged to a Hindu. Pressure was put on his landlord to evict him from the house and he was threatened that if he did not do so, a police report would be filed against him, saying that he had given his house to a terrorist. But the Hindu landlord remained firm.

Can every Hindu landlord be like him?

When organisations are always looking for some pretext to make the life of Muslims difficult and some new method to harass them, then it will become more and more difficult for them to live their daily lives normally on their own. Muslims also know that they should not expect protection from the government bodies since such organisations are now part of the state structure. In many cases we have seen state agencies themselves turning into oppressors of Muslims.

Just after this incident in Khajuri village, an incident in Alwar in Rajasthan came to light. A girl alleged that two girls were pressurising her to convert to Islam and marry a Muslim. The police immediately arrested all three of them. The police officer said that it is a matter of investigation whether this allegation was made due to a personal rivalry but it is noteworthy that they felt it necessary to arrest the Muslim girls and boys even before the investigation.

Like in Khajuri, Muslim teachers were suspended as soon as allegations were made. Will these three Muslims be able to get the support of Hindus in Alwar the way the Muslims got in Khajuri? We know the answer. But can this answer not be changed? The young students of Khajuri have demonstrated that it is possible.

Source: thewire.in

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://thewire.in/communalism/hindu-muslim-rajasthan-khajuri-school-students

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A Court  in UP Says  Ittehad-e-Millat Council Chief ‘Mastermind’ Of 2010 Communal Riots, Summons Him On March 11

5th March 2024

Marziya Sharif

Bareilly: A court in Bareilly on Tuesday summoned Ittehad-e-Millat Council (IMC) chairman Maulana Tauqeer Raza in connection with the communal riots in the Qutub Khana area here in March 2010, observing that he was the “mastermind” behind the violence, according to a government counsel.

The court also said that the then divisional commissioner and district magistrate of Bareilly, deputy inspector general of police of Bareilly zone, the inspector general of police, senior Superintendent of police and other senior officials did not include Tauqeer Raza’s name in the charge sheet of the case despite sufficient evidence.

“By doing this, they supported the mastermind of the riots Maulana Tauqeer Raza. In such a situation, a copy of this order should also be sent to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for action,” Additional Sessions Judge Ravi Kumar Diwakar was quoted as saying by Additional District Government Advocate (ADGC) Digambar Patel.

The court summoned Tauqeer Raza to appear on March 11 in this connection, Patel said.

Tauqeer Raza, who has considerable influence among Barelvi Muslims, has often courted controversies for his statements. He was last year booked by UP police for allegedly making inflammatory remarks.

Inspector Subhash Yadav recorded his statement in the riot case on Tuesday.

During the hearing, the court accepted the appearance waiver for other riot accused – Rizwan, Danish, Raju, Hasan, Soubi Raza and Yasin.

Due to their continuous absence from the last several dates, the court had issued non-bailable warrants against Babu Khan, Arif, Amjad Ahmed, Nisar Ahmed, Abrar, Raju alias Rajkumar and Kausar and ordered the Premnagar police to arrest and produce them.

Giving details of the case, Patel said that on March 2, 2010, a Holi procession and Barawafat procession were to be taken out.

Although both processions were taken out peacefully, it is alleged that Tauqeer Raza, a resident of Saudagaran and belonging to the Aala Hazrat family, had given an inflammatory speech to a group of people after which riots took place from Qutub Khana of the city police station to Kuhada Peer Bazaar of Prem Nagar police station area.

During this, the mob torched the police post and set fire to the houses belonging to the members of the majority community. In view of the situation, curfew was imposed in the city for 27 days, he said.

Source: siasat.com

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https://www.siasat.com/court-says-tauqeer-raza-mastermind-of-2010-communal-riots-summons-him-on-march-11-2987521/

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How Pakistani and Chinese hackers tried to bring down Ram Mandir website during Pran Pratistha ceremony

 Mar 6, 2024

Indian security agencies including cyber sleuths had their hands full in January this year, especially around the inauguration of Ram Temple in Ayodhya on January 22. According to a report in Economic Times, around the time of the Ram Mandir inauguration in January, hackers and cyber criminals, predominantly from China and Pakistan, were constantly targeting Indian websites.

Websites targeted by Pakistani and Chinese hackers

The Pakistani and Chinese hackers tried to bring down the websites of Ram Temple, Prasar Bharti and other digital assets of critical infrastructure in Uttar Pradesh (UP), officials told the financial daily.

How government stopped Pakistani and Chinese hackers' attack on Ram MandirOfficials said that the government had anticipated a rise in cyber-attacks during the inauguration. The Telecom Security Operation Centre (TSOC) was monitoring around 264 websites including that of the Ram Temple, Prasar Bharti, UP Police, airport, UP tourism, and the power grid among others to prevent any cyber-attack. During the round the clock monitoring, it was observed that about 140 compromised IP addresses were targeting the Ram Temple and Prasar Bharti websites. Following identification, the internet service providers were asked to block access to those IP addresses. The report added that even after the blocking of these IP addresses it was observed that on January 21, malicious activities from these countries increased and more IP addresses were blocked. “After blocking 1244 IP addresses, the attacks reduced,” said an official.

Another official said that apart from foreign countries, some attempts were made from within India to access the digital infrastructure, for which remedial action was taken.

Desi solutions helped protect Ram Mandir

One of the officials told ET that we are proud of the fact that all the solutions to tackle the cyber-attacks were developed indigenously. "Before the inauguration of Ram Temple, a similar strategy was put in place to guard the digital infrastructure during the G20 summit,” he said. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) used indigenous artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning technologies for forecasting these cyber attacks.

Apart from securing the digital assets from cyber-attack, the DoT had also taken care of crowd management utilising digital data.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

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https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/gadgets-news/how-pakistani-and-chinese-hackers-tried-to-bring-down-ram-mandir-website-during-pran-pratistha-ceremony/articleshow/108256617.cms

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Uttarakhand UCC: Gender Equality Was Never Its Intention

Namrata Mukherjee

06 March, 2024

The Uttarakhand Uniform Civil Code does next to nothing to end discriminatory and exclusionary practices in family law as far as parents and children are concerned. It discriminates between the parents of a child on matters of guardianship, does not provide equal rights to children born outside marriage, and fails to reform the outdated Hindu law on adoption.

We explain why the UUCC misses a great opportunity for reform in these areas and continues to maintain an unhappy status quo.

Missed opportunity to abolish illegitimacy

Under Indian personal laws, all children born outside marriage are deemed ‘illegitimate’. These children do not have the same set of inheritance or maintenance rights as compared to those born to married couples. They are therefore stigmatised due to the nature of the relationship between their parents; something they have no control over.

The UUCC does take a small step in the right direction to address this. It provides that children born out of void and voidable marriages and in live-in relationships will be ‘legitimate’ and thus treated at par with children born to married couples. However, this provision is based on the condition that the parents are either married or are in a relationship that mirrors marriage such as live-in relationships. Children born out of relationships that are not recognised by the UUCC continue to be ‘illegitimate’.

A modern law on parenthood should completely abolish the concept of illegitimacy as has been the case with most progressive jurisdictions in nations such as the United States and South Africa.

Even while recognising the legitimacy of children born out of live-in relationships, the UUCC is silent on issues of custody and maintenance of children in the event of separation of parents. Provisions relating to custody are only featured in Part I of the UUCC, which provides for the regulation of marriages and divorces, suggesting that custody proceedings will be relevant only in the event of dissolution of a valid marriage. The law is entirely silent about how custody issues and maintenance arrangements will be resolved if parents in a live-in relationship separate.

Guardianship and discrimination

As the UUCC is completely silent on parent-child relationships, existing personal laws on guardianship will prevail. All personal laws on guardianship continue to use the outdated concept of ‘guardian’ and ‘custodian’, where the former has the right to make decisions concerning the child and their property and the latter is responsible for caretaking. Guardianship as a concept is largely informed by the common law concept of ‘parental authority’ wherein fathers are vested with authority over their children’s lives. Most progressive jurisdictions have done away with guardianship as the basis for regulation of parent-child relations and have instead introduced laws where both parents are vested with rights to carry out their parental responsibilities. Such an approach provides that parents have rights (and not authority) only to ensure the welfare of the child.

Moreover, all personal laws on guardianship discriminate against women, as only fathers are guardians while mothers are mere custodians. It is only after the father (usually upon death or desertion) that the mother becomes the guardian. Both the Supreme Court and the legislature have not changed this position despite the Law Commission urging change. Similarly, under guardianship laws, mothers are guardians of children born outside marriage and fathers have no legal obligations to such children. Further, if the wife is a minor, it is the husband who is deemed to be her guardian. This renders minor wives vulnerable, as they are legally under their husband’s control. It is thus clear that despite marketing gender equality as its clarion call, the UUCC fails to deliver when it comes to guardianship.

Personal laws and adoption

The UUCC is silent on adoptions, which means the Hindu personal law on adoption, the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act 1956 (HAMA), will continue to be in force. The HAMA follows outdated norms in matters of adoption. For instance, a person cannot adopt a son if they already have a Hindu son, a grandson, or a great-grandson, and a person cannot adopt a daughter if they already have a Hindu daughter or a granddaughter. Such gender-based restrictions, while informed by religious principles concerning the role of the male child in the case of Hindu last rites, often end up defeating the purpose of adoption laws.

Similarly, adoptions under HAMA happen on the basis of the execution of a private deed with no institutional safeguards or oversight. Concerns have been raised about the misuse of such a process that can render the child vulnerable to exploitation. The UUCC could have ensured that the secular Juvenile Justice Act 2015, which governs adoptions for all religions and has rigorous safeguards to protect children, was the only applicable law in case of adoption. Instead, it allows the Hindu law to continue to operate. As argued here, this also goes to show that the UUCC is, in fact, not uniform in its application.

Guardianship laws are one of the most outdated facets of Indian family law and need to be rehauled to reflect a more contemporary approach to regulating parent-child relations. Regressive common law concepts such as parental authority, patriarchal family structure with the father as the head of the household, and children with limited agency should not inform law-making. The UUCC continues this norm, perpetuating gender-biased notions of parenthood and staying silent on the matter.  It is not just a missed opportunity but an indication that family law reforms or gender equality was never the intent of this project.

Source: theprint.in

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Mideast

 

Mosques in Istanbul prepare for Ramadan with traditional Mahya illuminations

March 06 2024

As the Muslim holy month of Ramadan approaches, mosques across Istanbul are gearing up for the spiritual occasion by adorning their minarets with illuminated messages known as mahyas, a tradition dating back centuries.

Mahyas are typically made from light bulbs arranged to form words or phrases from the Islamic holy book Quran and hung between minarets during Ramadan, the month of fasting for Muslims.

The mahyas were prepared by Kahraman Yıldız, Türkiye's last mahya master, and his team in coordination with the Culture and Tourism Ministry and the General Directorate of Foundations.

During the month of Ramadan, five different texts on ridge lights will be hung on the minarets of seven selatin mosques in addition to the iconic Hagia Sophia Mosque, according to Levent Çetin, the deputy director of the Regional Directorate of Foundations.

Speaking about the cultural significance of the Mahyas, Çetin said that the tradition is an art of decoration that was started by the Ottoman Empire towards the end of the 1500s which continued to our present day.

"With the mahyas, our citizens can understand that the month of Ramadan has come," he added, emphasizing that the ornaments serve as a visual reminder of the holy month by creating a festive ambiance.

Türkiye's last mahya master shared exclusive insights into the revered tradition stating, "Today, I hung the first mahya of Ramadan in Eyüpsultan Mosque. Now we will hang it on Hagia Sophia Mosque."

Yıldız revealed that this year’s mahya theme was "Ramadan and Awareness of the Hereafter," a theme selected in collaboration with the Presidency of Religious Affairs and the Istanbul Mufti's Office, which prepared aphorisms in accordance with the theme.

Yıldız, who dedicated 50 years to the craft, emphasized the profound significance of mahyas, describing them as a tradition with a strong spiritual aspect.

"The mahyas hold a significant meaning for me. I am practicing a profession that is no longer common. I am writing in the sky, sharing beautiful messages. The General Directorate of Foundations has been doing this for centuries. We try to pay as much attention as we can," he said.

Reflecting on the enduring legacy of mahyas, he reminisced, "In the past, when there were no televisions or cinemas, the only visual broadcast was the mahyas. Our people used to go from mosque to mosque and watch the messages coming from the mahyas."

"Now, I watch the mahyas I made myself in the evenings. Then all my fatigue disappears," he concluded.

Source: hurriyetdailynews.com

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https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/mosques-in-istanbul-prepare-for-ramadan-with-traditional-mahya-illuminations-191348

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'Overwhelming expectation' for Muslim nations to act on Gaza, even if 'unilaterally': Turkish foreign minister

Alperen Aktaş

05.03.2024

Türkiye's foreign minister on Tuesday told Muslim nations that there was "overwhelming expectation" that they take immediate action on the situation in the Gaza Strip, not ruling out doing so unilaterally. 

"There is an overwhelming expectation from us to act right now, even if it means doing so unilaterally," Hakan Fidan said in an address at the Extraordinary Session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Fidan also called for the development of a plan to "counter the atrocities in Gaza," as Israel continues its attacks on the besieged Palestinian enclave for nearly five months.

"As the Muslim world, we must devise a plan on three grounds to counter the atrocities in Gaza," he said, emphasizing that the implementation of a decision to stop weapons shipments to Israel "must be monitored."

He continued: "On the actual ground, we should prevent people from starving to death by breaking the Israeli siege."

"On the political and diplomatic front, we should increase the pressure on Israel through every available means by acting collectively and with one voice," he added.

Fidan stressed that on the legal ground, efforts to uphold international law at all costs are "indispensable."

He also welcomed a resolution at the session calling for OIC members to get involved in "cases before the International Court of Justice and International Criminal Court."

Israel launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip following a cross-border incursion by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7. The ensuing Israeli bombardment has killed over 30,000 people and injured nearly 72,000 others, with mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

Gaza siege 'must be broken'

Fidan also underlined that the blockade around Gaza "must be broken."

"This must be done now," he said, adding that Israel is using humanitarian aid as a "weapon in war."

He stressed that more than 400,000 Palestinians are facing starvation.

"We cannot leave the people of Gaza at the mercy of Israel or wait for the blessing of hegemonic powers," he said. "It is our solemn duty to turn grievances of Palestinians into peace, security and dignity in their own state and in their own lands."

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN. 

Gazans cannot be left at Israel's mercy

The minister also emphasized that Israel's "extremist and racist government" has been attempting "yet again to deceive the world."

He said the government of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been propagating that an operation on Palestinians trapped in the southern city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip "is a must."

Asserting that Israel is using humanitarian assistance as a "weapon of war," Fidan stressed that human rights groups and non-governmental organizations should be allowed in Gaza, "accepting whatever risks."

"We cannot leave the people of Gaza at the mercy of Israel or wait for the blessing of hegemonic powers," he said.

Source: aa.com.tr

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Palestinian president says security, peace achieved by ending Israeli occupation

Mohammad Sıo

06.03.2024

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Tuesday that the attainment of security and peace hinges on the cessation of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory, underscoring the imperative for a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

During a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, Abbas said "security and peace can only be achieved by ending the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land, with its capital, East Jerusalem,'' the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.

"We will continue to work towards consolidating our unity in accordance with the political programs and international commitments of the Palestine Liberation Organization," he added.

Abbas and Erdogan deliberated on "the latest developments in Palestine, strategies to halt the severe Israeli aggression, and the atrocities against the populace in Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem."

The leaders also emphasized the significance of "pursuing a political resolution, commencing with Palestine's attainment of full membership in the UN and garnering increased recognition from other nations."

Abbas cautioned against "the potential escalation of tensions during the coming (Muslim holy) month of Ramadan due to Israeli practices and the obstruction of worshippers' access to the Al-Aqsa Mosque."

He also reiterated "Palestine's firm opposition to the displacement of its people from Gaza, the West Bank or Jerusalem," stressing the necessity of a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, considering it an integral component of the Palestinian state."

The Palestinian president arrived in Türkiye on Monday for a three-day official visit.

Israel has launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip following a cross-border incursion by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023. The ensuing Israeli bombardment has killed at least 30,631 people and injured 72,043 others with mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

Source: aa.com.tr

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https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/palestinian-president-says-security-peace-achieved-by-ending-israeli-occupation/3156488

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UNRWA accuses Zionist enemy of torturing employees to prove connection to Hamas

[06/March/2024]

GAZA March 06. 2024 (Saba) - The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has accused the Zionist enemy of torturing a number of its employees whom it arrested in the Gaza Strip, during the war waged by the enemy on the Strip, since Oct. 7.

In a statement, the UNRWA said that its employees spoke of horrific events during their arrest and interrogation by the occupation authorities, as these reports included severe mistreatment, torture, assault and sexual exploitation.

It confirmed that a number of its employees were forced to make confessions under torture and ill-treatment during their investigation and interrogation regarding the Hamas attack on the Zionist entity on October 7.

The UNRWA added the occupation authorities took these forced confessions under torture, to use them to spread misleading information about the agency, as part of their attempts to dismantle it.

It warned that such move puts its employees in the Gaza Strip in danger and has dangerous consequences for its operations in Gaza and the entire region.

The UNRWA indicated that it had submitted a written protest to the Zionist enemy regarding the arrest of its employees, without receiving any response.

Source: saba.ye

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Iranian president warns of 'outburst of anger’ among world’s youths over Israeli crimes

06 March 2024

Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi has warned of an outpouring of “anger” by the world’s youths over the continuation of the Israeli crimes against Palestinians.

Raeisi made the remarks in an interview with Algeria’s national television, which was published on Wednesday, during his recent visit to the North African country.

“Today, the Zionist regime’s oppression has exhausted the patience of not only the people of the region but also the people of the world,” he said.

“I think that if this situation persists, the anger of the youths of all nations, whether in the US and Britain or other countries in different continents, will be vented in another form,” he further commented.

Raeisi pointed to the recent self-immolation of an active-duty member of the US Air Force in protest at Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip and the mass rallies held in European countries in support of Palestinians, expressing regret that their call for the end of Israel’s crimes has fallen to deaf ears.

The US and UK governments do not want to hear the voices of their own people and the world nations, therefore, they seek to expand the scope of the Gaza war, he explained.

Israel waged its brutal US-backed war on the besieged Gaza in October after the Palestinian Hamas resistance group carried out its historic operation against the occupying regime in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

So far, the Tel Aviv regime has killed at least 30,631Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 72,043 others.

Raeisi urges global unity to rid region of ‘cancerous tumor’

Additionally in his remarks, the Iranian chief executive urged all countries to unite against the usurping entity and “remove the cancerous tumor from the region.”

“We believe that the pure blood of the Palestinian martyrs and the oppressed will mark the end of the Zionist regime,” he added.

Raeisi further said that the Israeli crimes against humanity and its war crimes in Gaza do not conform to any international law or convention.

“The current situation in Gaza … is a great scandal for the West, which unmasks the true face of the US,” he asserted.

Raeisi slams Western hypocrisy on Iran’s nuclear activities

The Iranian president also lashed out at nuclear-armed Western countries for their double standards.

He said they express concerns about Iran’s peaceful nuclear program while keeping mum on the Israeli regime that has hundreds of atomic warheads in possession, pointing to a threat in November 2023 by Israel’s so-called heritage minister Amichai Eliyahu to use atomic bombs against Gaza.

By raising alarm at Iran’s nuclear activities, Western countries are seeking to exert pressure on the Islamic republic, which is powerful and self-reliant and has developed an indigenous nuclear industry, Raeisi said.

“When the Zionist regime assassinated Iranian nuclear scientists, it thought that our nuclear industry would be grounded. However, the nuclear industry keeps working as it has become indigenous in our country.”

Israel is estimated to possess 200 to 400 nuclear warheads in its arsenal, making it the sole possessor of unconventional arms in West Asia.

It has refused to either allow inspections of its nuclear facilities or sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Source: presstv.ir

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Genocide in Gaza continues, cemeteries no longer accommodate martyrs on its 51st consecutive day: report

[05/March/2024]

SANA'A March 05. 2024 (Saba) - The Zionist enemy continues, in cold blood, in full view of the world, to commit the crime of genocide in the Gaza Strip, for the 151st day in a row.

In return, the cemeteries have long ceased to accommodate the Palestinian martyrs and the Zionist machine of killing and brutality has not tired of committing more massacres and spreading death everywhere in the Gaza strip.

The Ministry of Health in Gaza announced on Tuesday that the Zionist enemy forces committed ten massacres against families in the Gaza Strip, leaving 97 martyrs and 123 wounded in the past 24 hours.

The Ministry confirmed that the toll of the Zionist-American aggression had risen to 30,631 martyrs and 72,043 injuries since October 7, 2023.

Enemy forces continue to commit more bloody massacres against Palestinian civilians. The Nazi enemy launches dozens of air strikes, artillery shelling, and fire belts, and carrying out horrific crimes in areas of incursion, amid a catastrophic humanitarian situation as a result of the siege and the displacement of more than 90 percent of the population.

In a press statement, Deputy Secretary-General of the Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad Hisham Abu Mahfoudh said the massacres committed by the Zionist enemy against civilians in the Gaza Strip while they receive aid are a war crime added to the crimes of genocide it is committing in the Gaza Strip for the month. Sixth in a row, according to the Palestinian Information Center.

Abu Mahfoudh added the Zionist enemy failed to achieve its goals of aggression against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, most notably the forced displacement of the population of the Strip, through killing and massacres, and today it uses the weapon of starvation to break the will and steadfastness of the Palestinians.

Abu Mahfoudh called for the crime of starving the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip to be included among the crimes of genocide committed by the Zionist enemy, in the lawsuit filed by the state of South Africa against the occupying entity in the International Court of Justice.

He called on the international community to put pressure on the American administration to force the enemy to stop its aggression on the Gaza Strip, opening the crossings, bringing in aid, and ending the Zionist siege imposed on the Gaza Strip.

In a statement issued in Geneva on Tuesday, United Nations experts described the Zionist aggression against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, during the distribution of flour, last week, in which 112 people were killed and 760 others were injured, as a “massacre.”

The experts said “Israel” has been deliberately starving the Palestinian people in Gaza since October 7, 2023, and is now targeting civilians searching for humanitarian aid and humanitarian convoys, adding “Israel must put an end to the campaign of starvation and targeting of civilians.”

They said “The massacre of last February 29 followed a pattern of Zionist attacks against Palestinian civilians requesting assistance, as more than 14 incidents of shooting, bombing, and targeting of groups that were gathering to receive urgently needed supplies, from trucks or airdrops, were recorded in the period between mid-January and the end of February 2024.

UN experts also saw that Israel also opened fire on humanitarian aid convoys on several occasions, even though the convoys shared their coordinates with the Zionist entity.

The United Nations experts reminded that the Zionist enemy did not care about the order of the International Court of Justice, which recognized the possibility of committing the crime of genocide and ordered that basic services and humanitarian aid be allowed to be delivered.

However, what happened was that before the court’s decision was issued, an average of 147 trucks entered the Gaza Strip every day, and since the issuance of the ruling reduced this number to only 57 trucks.

The Zionist enemy is being tried before an international court for the first time, in order to take strict and binding legal measures against it amid the ongoing aggression it is launching against the Gaza Strip, and the password in this trial was South Africa.

On December 29, in the face of international silence over what was happening in the Gaza Strip, South Africa, with its legacy of liberation struggle against apartheid, filed a lawsuit against the Zionist enemy in the International Court of Justice in The Hague, accusing this occupier of violating the Genocide Convention. This was a sudden and unexpected blow to the Zionist enemy.

Considering it an accomplice in the Gaza genocide, more than 100 Australian lawyers today supported the request to refer Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to the International Criminal Court. Thus, Albanese will be the first Western leader to be referred to the International Criminal Court.

It is noteworthy that the referral request was based on steps taken by Albanese and other Australian officials, including freezing six million dollars for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) amid an ongoing humanitarian crisis as well as providing military support to the Zionist enemy that could be used to commit genocide and other crimes. Against humanity, and allowing Australians, explicitly or implicitly, to travel to “Israel” to join the occupation army and participate in its attacks on Gaza.

The International Court of Justice said, in a statement, on Friday, Nicaragua filed a lawsuit before the court against Germany for providing military aid to the Zionist enemy entity and stopping funding for UNRWA.

Nicaragua stated in its lawsuit “By sending military equipment and halting funding for UNRWA, which provides essential support to the civilian population, Germany is facilitating the commission of genocide and, in any case, has failed in its obligation to do everything in its power to prevent this genocide.”

Nicaragua accused Germany of “violating” the 1948 Genocide Convention and the 194 Geneva Conventions, saying “By its actions and failure to act, Germany has failed to fulfill its obligations as a party to several conventions related to the law of armed conflict and the 1948 Genocide Convention, as well as its obligations under Rules of International law.

The Iranian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office in Geneva, Ali Bahraini, called for the full and immediate implementation of the decision issued by the International Court of Justice, which calls on the Zionist enemy entity to stop the crimes of genocide in the Gaza Strip.

Bahraini said in a speech he delivered on behalf of more than 60 countries at the 55th meeting of the Human Rights Council that more than 150 United Nations employees were killed due to the crimes of the Zionist enemy in Gaza during the last five months, pointing out that during the eight decades of occupation of the land of Palestine, the world has never witnessed such a worsening human rights situation.

On the same level, Brazilian President, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, raised the Palestinian flag, in the Fourth National Cultural Conference in the capital, Brasilia, amid a large public presence.

Video footage broadcast on Brazilian state television showed President da Silva carrying the Palestinian flag next to Brazilian poet Antonio Marinho and Minister of Culture Margaret Menezes, amid warm applause from the audience.

Brazil expelled the Zionist ambassador to on February 19 and withdrew its ambassador from Israel in protest against Tel Aviv’s rebuke of its Brazilian ambassador in objection to statements by the Brazilian president in which he described what Israel was doing in the Gaza Strip as “genocide.” It is similar to "the extermination of millions of Jews by the Nazis led by Hitler in the last century."

It is worth noting that genocide is the deliberate and systematic destruction of a group of people because of their race, nationality, religion, or origin.

This term was coined in the 1940s by Polish-born lawyer Raphael Lemkin. Genocide has become an illegal crime according to international and customary law since the end of the Second World war.

Source: saba.ye

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Israel's southern communities prepare for potential violence during Ramadan

 PELED ARBELI

MARCH 6, 2024

Amid the war in Gaza, Hamas’s continued goal to fan the flames of tensions within Israel, and in light of events of Operation Guardian of the Walls in 2021, one must wonder, is the possibility of violent outbreaks in the Negev by Bedouins being taken into account? Is there any consideration of preparing, not only at the cabinet meeting, regarding the Temple Mount, but also by the southern leadership and other entities for this scenario?

It's not even necessary to mention the events that occurred during the Guardian of the Walls Operation. It is well remembered by us as a wave of violent outbreaks, which were unprecedented in their scope and extremity and were committed throughout the country. The main locations of these events occurred in mixed cities and across the Negev.

While Hamas launched thousands of rockets into Israel, criminals among Israel’s Arab citizens opened another front from within Israel. Roads were blocked, streetlights were destroyed, and acts of vandalism were frequent. Vehicles were set on fire, Molotov cocktails were thrown, civilians were attacked and seriously injured, and people were killed. The riots inside Israel during the 'Guardian of the Walls' operation surprised everyone, especially the residents of the Negev.

There are several characteristics of the month of Ramadan that make it a potential boiling point. Gathering for prayers, incitement in mosques, or even just a hint are among the possible factors; all that is needed is a spark to ignite the fire. In addition to all of these, one must consider the unique circumstances, including the ongoing war and the heightened inclination towards terrorism, especially in light of the impending defeat they face in Gaza, that may inspire one to incite and create unrest that could lead to serious events.

Leadership in the South are taking pre-emptive measures

Whether this scenario materializes or not, the new members of leadership in the South are not afraid. Shimon Mazoz, Meitar council’s new leader, has already started to act: "The issue of regional peace and security came up during the ‘Iron Swords Operation,’ so I gathered all the council heads in the region, Jews and Arabs, to sign an agreement calling for the preservation of the unique way of life and the restoration of peace in the south."

He continued, "The heads of the councils have pledged to do whatever it takes to manage the region while ensuring the safety of the residents. The heads of Jewish and Arab councils participated in the meeting to declare unequivocally that everyone is united to preserve coexistence in the Negev for mutual respect, peace, and security."

Mazuz believes that if the government "acts correctly at the Temple Mount," the month of Ramadan can pass without any unusual events.

Yair Maayan, the incoming mayor of Arad, is trying to assuage the situation. He does not expect a deterioration in Bedouin relations. "About 20 Bedouin residents were killed, some by terrorists who invaded Israel on October 7, and some by rockets. Another six were kidnapped. Against this background, the Bedouins in the Negev realized that Hamas is a common enemy.”

He believes that most of the Bedouins in the Negev support the IDF, the elimination of terrorism, and the elimination of Hamas. Maayan points out that "in recent months, many of them have volunteered to assist the army and the evacuees. There has been an exemplary calm here in the Negev. There is a certain neglect of the children of Palestinian women who live here, and the Shin Bet needs to address this."

Erez Badash, the newly appointed head of the council of Omer, agreed. He said: "The events in October created a different reality, mainly in two aspects. Firstly, the Bedouin population also suffered from the brutal attack by Hamas, which spared nobody, including them.

On the other hand, even for extremists from within the Bedouin community with a distinct affinity for the Palestinians, I recommend taking a look at what is happening in Gaza to understand that provocation and thoughtless actions will lead to a very harsh response from all law enforcement agencies. I believe that logic will prevail and that the local authorities will act uncompromisingly in the face of any manifestations of violence.”

The head of the Lehavim Council, Yossi Nissan, said, “The Lahavim settlement consists of a tolerant community living in a good neighborliness. Lehavim is prepared for extreme events thanks to cooperation with all the relevant parties, practicing exercises for all the different possible scenarios, and learning lessons from past events. The police and security forces will be able to respond to any event as the situation demands."

In contrast, Meir Deutsch, CEO of the NGO Regavim, warned: "Since October 7, we have witnessed a decline in anti-Israel activities among the Arab sector in the State of Israel. We do not know whether this decrease is due to intimidation and fear, widespread police force presence, or for some other reason.

Representatives and leaders of the Arab sector did not come out in condemnation against the horrific massacre on October 7, neither in Hebrew nor in Arabic. As long as they allow themselves to ignore these terrible acts, we should not expect their large audience to change the familiar behavior from years past. We expect and demand, even more so before Ramadan, that all community leaders and public representatives stand up, condemn, and denounce the crimes against humanity that were committed on October 7."

Source: jpost.com

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https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-790427

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Hezbollah targets occupied Palestine with dozens of missiles

Mar 6, 2024

TEHRAN, Mar. 06 (MNA) – The Lebanese Resistance group Hezbollah targeted the occupied Palestinian territories with dozens of missiles.

Hezbollah announced that it had targeted the Kfar Blum settlement in the north of occupied Palestine with dozens of Katyusha missiles.

The Resistance group stressed that the attack was carried out in response to the Israeli bombardment of Lebanon's Houla village which led to the martyrdom of several people.

Some Zionist media sources reported that more than 50 Katyusha missiles were fired toward the Kiryat Shmona settlement.

The Lebanese Resistance movement has been conducting regular raids since early October against the Israeli regime’s military position in retaliation for the occupying regime’s offensives against Gaza and southern Lebanon.

Israel waged its brutal war on besieged Gaza on October 7 after Hamas carried out an unprecedented operation against the occupying entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

So far, the Tel Aviv regime has killed over 30,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured at least 68,883 others.

Israel has imposed a complete siege on the densely populated territory, cutting off fuel, electricity, food, and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there.

Source: mehrnews.com

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Hamas says it will continue negotiating for ceasefire as Ramadan nears

March 06, 2024

CAIRO: The Palestinian militant group Hamas said on Wednesday it would continue working toward achieving a ceasefire in Gaza with Israel despite the absence of Israeli negotiators from the latest round of talks in Cairo.

“We are showing the required flexibility in order to reach a comprehensive cessation of aggression against our people, but the occupation is still evading the entitlements of this agreement,” Hamas said in a statement.

Negotiators from Hamas, Qatar and Egypt — but not Israel — are in Cairo trying to secure a 40-day ceasefire in the war between Israel and the Islamist group in time for the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which begins early next week.

US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that it was in the hands of Hamas whether to accept a deal on the table for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip in exchange for the release of Israeli hostages, as delegations held a third day of talks with no sign of a breakthrough.

The deal presented to Hamas would free some hostages captured by Palestinian militants in the Oct. 7 on Israel which sparked the war, while aid to Gaza would be increased to try to avert famine as hospitals treat acutely malnourished children, and Hamas would provide a list of all the hostages held in Gaza.

The United States on Tuesday revised language in a draft UN Security Council resolution to back “an immediate ceasefire of roughly six-weeks in Gaza together with the release of all hostages,” according to the text seen by Reuters.

The third revision of the text — first proposed by the United States two weeks ago — now reflects blunt remarks by Vice President Kamala Harris calling on Israel to do more to ease the “humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza.

The release of sick, wounded, elderly and women hostages would result in an immediate ceasefire in Gaza of at least six weeks, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani stressed at a meeting on Tuesday, the White House said.

“This first phase of a ceasefire would also enable a surge of humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza, and provide time and space to secure more enduring arrangements and sustained calm,” the White House statement said.

Earlier in Beirut, Hamas official Osama Hamdan repeated his group’s main demands: an end to the Israeli military offensive, withdrawal of Israeli forces, and the return of all Gazans to the homes they had been forced to flee.

He said any exchange of prisoners cannot take place except after a ceasefire. Israel for its part wants merely a pause in fighting to get hostages out of Gaza and more aid in, insisting that it will not end the conflict before Hamas is “eliminated.”

Washington, Israel’s main political and military backer and a sponsor of the talks, also put the onus squarely on Gaza’s rulers.

“It’s in the hands of Hamas right now. Israelis have been cooperating. There’s been a rational offer,” Biden told reporters. “If we get to the circumstance that it continues to Ramadan ... it’s gonna be very dangerous.”

Palestinian-Israeli violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories often spikes during Ramadan, as does hostility toward Israel in the Arab and Muslim world, creating a strong incentive for leaders to clinch a deal before then.

Hamas’ own draft

Hamas says Washington’s stance is designed to deflect blame from Israel if the talks collapse.

Senior Hamas official Bassem Naim said Hamas had presented its own draft deal, and was awaiting a response from Israel, adding: “(Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu doesn’t want to reach an agreement and the ball now is in the Americans’ court.”

A source had told Reuters earlier that Israel was staying away because Hamas had refused to furnish a list of hostages who are still alive. Naim said this was impossible without a ceasefire as hostages were scattered across the war zone.

The US has also urged Israel to do more to alleviate the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, where more than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel’s assault, launched after Hamas attacks that killed 1,200 people in October.

“We must get more aid into Gaza,” Biden said.

Famine looms over the Gaza Strip as aid supplies, already sharply curtailed during the war, have dwindled to barely a trickle. Swathes of the territory are completely cut off from food. Gaza’s few functioning hospitals, already overwhelmed by the wounded, are now filling with children starving to death.

The US military, in coordination with Jordan, airdropped 36,000 meals into northern Gaza on Tuesday, a program Washington began last week. Aid agencies say this is paltry compared to the scale of the hunger.

Source: arabnews.com

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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2471956/middle-east

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South Asia

 

Fostering A Sense Of National Unity Deputy PM Declares Islamic Emirate as a Product of the People

2024-03-05

KABUL (BNA): Mawlavi Abdul Kabir, the Deputy Prime Minister for Political Affairs, has asserted that the Islamic system is supported by the entirety of the Afghan populace, fostering a sense of national unity.

During a meeting with prominent local figures in the Achin district of Nangarhar, as reported by the Palace of the Prime Minister, Arg, the Deputy PM made these remarks. The elders of the Achin district expressed their satisfaction with the overall security situation, stating that the residents now live in complete safety and are able to manage their daily affairs. They emphasized the significant sacrifices made by the people of Achin for the establishment of the Islamic system and their continued willingness to make any necessary sacrifices for its preservation.

The elders advocated for the implementation of development projects in the district, highlighting challenges such as the lack of clinics, schools, electricity, and other developmental issues faced by the people.

Mawlavi Abdul Kabir expressed his satisfaction with the meeting and acknowledged the significant losses endured by the residents of the Achin district during the occupation. He emphasized that their sacrifices and efforts for the Islamic system should not be forgotten.

The Deputy Prime Minister stated that the Islamic system has emerged from among the people of Afghanistan, and its sense of ownership extends to all Afghans. Their goal is to apply divine laws in their entirety and serve the people. To address the problems of the Achin district, he pledged to issue the necessary directives to the relevant departments.

Source: bakhtarnews.af

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Ensuring security, facilitating social welfare, Islamic Emirate’s top priority, Hanafi

March 5, 2024

KABUL: The Deputy Prime Minister for Administrative Affairs Mawlavi Abdul Salam Hanafi, in a meeting, with a number of scholars and returning immigrants, said that providing overall security, creating social welfare and necessary facilities for Afghans are among the priorities of the Islamic Emirate. Scholars and returning immigrants shared information about the social, economic and security situation of Baghlan and said the local officials of the Islamic Emirate have been committed to the provision of security and creation of peace for the citizens and returnees and solving their problems in the province, Arg said in a statement the on Monday. They also added the local officials of the province are making efforts to provide the necessary services for the returning immigrants, their transfer, relocation and accommodation within the limits of their capabilities, the statement said. The deputy PM Hanafi pointed out that the Islamic Emirate is making efforts to provide services for returning migrants and create employment opportunities for them in the country. The Kabul Times

Source: thekabultimes.com

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UNSC to Meet on Afghanistan on Wednesday: Faiq

Mitra Majeedy

March 05, 2024

'The United Nations Security Council is reportedly set to hold a meeting on Afghanistan on Wednesday.

The Chargé d'Affaires of the Afghanistan Permanent Mission to the UN, Naseer Ahmad Faiq, told TOLOnews that the special representative of the UN Secretary-General and head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), Roza Otunbayeva, will present a three-month report on the situation in Afghanistan.

“The United Nations Security Council is scheduled to hold a meeting on the situation in Afghanistan on March 6, where the special representative of the United Nations Secretary-General, Roza Otunbayeva, will participate and give explanations to the members of the Security Council about the situation in Afghanistan in the last three months,” he said.

But the Islamic Emirate is not optimistic about this meeting and says that UNAMA in seeking to emphasize negative points.

The spokesman of the Islamic Emirate, Zabihullah Mujahid, said that the meetings of the UN on Afghanistan will be positive when they reflect the realities of Afghanistan.

“As per our experience I am not hopeful, as it's clear that they take the opportunity to speak about Afghanistan, they discuss the negative points, magnify it and than report on it,” Zabihullah Mujahid said.

“I think that the meetings of the UN Security Council about Afghanistan have been ineffective as there is still an opposition of views between the decision-maker members of the UN Security Council. in my opinion, the reason why the various meetings of the Security Council regarding the Afghanistan issue have not been effective and have not yielded results, is that there are still disagreements among the decision-making members,” Mohebullah Sharif, a political analyst, told TOLOnews.

“This is the second meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Afghanistan this month.

Source: tolonews.com

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https://tolonews.com/index.php/afghanistan-187699

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Islamic Emirate Army Chief: US Controls Afghan Airspace

March 05, 2024

The Chief of Army Staff of the Islamic Emirate says that Afghanistan's airspace is still under the control of the United States.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with TOLOnews, Fasihuddin Fetrat said that the country's airspace is still managed by the United States and that this country violates Afghanistan's airspace.

According to Fasihuddin Fetrat, American drones occasionally fly over the Afghanistan's airspace.

"Drones occasionally patrol, and it [Afghanistan’s airspace] is still occupied by the Americans. It may enter Afghan territory from the soil of one of the neighboring countries," said Fasihuddin Fetrat, the Chief of Army Staff of the Ministry of Defense of the Islamic Emirate

Fetrat also rejects claims about the arrest of forces from the previous government, saying that no one has been arrested for this accusation so far.

"I definitely reject this, it has no basis, and no one who was in the previous regime has been arrested, imprisoned, or beaten so far, this is incorrect. If they commit a crime, they still do not have judicial immunity," added Fasihudin Fetrat.

According to Fetrat, the exact number of armed forces active within the Ministry of Interior, intelligence, and Ministry of Defense has reached 500,000, and the army has reached 172,000.

"We are in the initial stages, when the rule of the Islamic Emirate began, and we tried to build the Afghan army, the number that was considered was 200,000, and we are gradually progressing. We hope to complete the number we had in mind next year," stated the army chief of staff.

About the border clashes with Pakistan, the senior security official of the Islamic Emirate says that these clashes have occurred in response to the incursions of Pakistani border forces along the Durand Line.

"It is clear that we call this line an imaginary line, occasionally invasions and assaults occur that our forces cannot ignore, and no solution is found through discussions, and the other side [Pakistan] tries to use force, in which case we also allow our forces to use force," said Fetrat.

Fasihuddin Fetrat, in another part of his speech, rejects claims about the sale of American weapons in the country, saying that the Islamic Emirate urgently needs the leftover military equipment and does not allow anyone to sell it.

Source: tolonews.com

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https://tolonews.com/index.php/afghanistan-187700

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Media Violation Monitoring Commission Discusses Press Regulations

2024-03-06

KABUL (BNA): The Media Violation Monitoring Commission convened under the chairmanship of Mullah Khairullah Khairkhah, Acting Minister of Information and Culture, held a meeting aimed at addressing media violations and promoting ethical journalism.

The session brought together key figures such as Mawlavi Ziaulhaq Haqmal, the Acting Deputy Minister publication, Abdul Wahid Rayan, the head of publication supervision, commission members, and various media officials.

Minister Khairkhah, in his opening remarks, emphasized the significance of media accountability and the crucial role journalists play in shaping public opinion.

He highlighted the need for unbiased reporting, accurate information dissemination, and adherence to established regulations.

The Acting Minister underlined that the freedom of the press must be exercised responsibly to avoid any potential harm to society.

Source: bakhtarnews.af

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https://www.bakhtarnews.af/en/media-violation-monitoring-commission-discusses-press-regulations/

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Deputy PM Calls on Afghan Traders Abroad to Contribute to Homeland’s Prosperity

2024-03-05

KABUL (BNA): Mawlavi Abdul Salam Hanafi, the Deputy Prime Minister for Administrative Affairs, has called on Afghan traders living abroad to return and contribute to the prosperity and development of Afghanistan.

According to a statement from Arg, Mawlavi Abdul Salam Hanafi made this appeal during a meeting with Hafezullah Faryad, the head of Spin Zar Factory, and Mohibullah Oryakhil, a national trader. Both Faryad and Oryakhil expressed satisfaction with the improving economic and trade situation in the country.

They emphasized the importance of ensuring life and financial security for all citizens, particularly traders and investors. They noted that the availability of better economic and investment opportunities in Afghanistan has attracted both domestic and foreign traders and investors.

They called for the Islamic Emirate’s leadership to pay special attention to supporting domestic production and encouraging investment in various sectors.

Hanafi assured them that the Islamic Emirate is committed to ensuring the security of all citizens and will spare no effort in developing the country’s economic sectors and investments. He stated that the Islamic Emirate welcomes all investments and provides necessary facilities for traders and investors.

He urged all Afghan traders living abroad to return to their homeland and contribute to its prosperity and progress.

Source: bakhtarnews.af

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North America

 

US president says cease-fire deal is 'in hands of' Hamas

Diyar Güldoğan

05.03.2024

On a possible Gaza cease-fire deal, the ball in now in Hamas’ court, said US President Joe Biden on Tuesday.

"It’s in the hands of Hamas right now. Israelis have been cooperating. There’s been a rational offer. We will know in a couple of days what’s gonna happen. We need a cease-fire," Biden told reporters before boarding Air Force One in Hagerstown, Maryland, northwest of Washington, DC.

When asked whether a cease-fire is possible by the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which starts next week, Biden said: "There’s got to be a cease-fire. If we get to (the) circumstance that it continues to Ramadan … it’s gonna be very, very dangerous. So we are trying very, very hard to get a cease-fire."

Biden also said that he’s working very hard to get more aid delivered to the Gaza Strip, where the population faces an acute risk of famine, adding: "We must get more aid into Gaza."

Asked about his relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden said: "Like it's always been."

There have been growing reports of friction between Biden and Netanyahu, with the US president unhappy over how Israel is waging the war, especially the large number of civilian casualties.

The US urged Hamas on Monday to agree to a hostage release deal with Israel which would also include a six-week cease-fire in Gaza.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an attack by Hamas last Oct. 7, which Tel Aviv said killed some 1,200 people.

More than 30,600 Palestinians have since been killed and over 72,000 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide by the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

Source: aa.com.tr

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https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/us-president-says-cease-fire-deal-is-in-hands-of-hamas/3156367

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Canada faces legal action over arms exports to Israel

05 March 2024

A group of Canadian and Palestinian human rights lawyers have filed a lawsuit against the Canadian government for “contributing” to the bombardment of the Gaza Strip through sending arms to Israel.

The coalition of the lawyers filed a complaint against Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly on Tuesday over issuing permits for export of military equipment to Israel.

The group includes Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights and Al-Haq – Law in the Services of Man, an independent Palestinian NGO.

In the lawsuit, the group argued that Canada’s Export and Import Permits Act prevents the federal government from issuing permits for export of military goods and related technology to Israel because those exports can pose serious risks by undermining peace and security.

They said the weapons could be used to commit serious violations of international law and serious acts of violence against women and children in Palestine.

The lawyers said the government needs to stop contributing to Israel’s mass starvation of Palestinians and bombardment of Gaza.

Back in January, Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights (CLAIHR), one of the groups involved in the case, urged the government to “immediately halt” all arms exports to Israel.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also stands accused of misleading the public over weapons sales to Israel.

Trudeau has repeatedly been urged to end arms exports to the Israeli regime. But his government has so far tried to downplay the country’s role in helping Israel build its arsenal.

On Friday, a group of more than 200 lawmakers from 12 countries, including the United States and Canada, signed a letter to call on their governments to impose a ban on arms sales to Israel.

Niki Ashton, a member of Canada's Parliament was among the signatories of that letter.

Ashton said in a message on the X social media platform that the Canadian government has approved $28 million worth of weapons exports to Israel since the regime started its brutal military campaign in early October.

“That is horrifying,” Ashton said, adding, “Make no mistake. These weapons are directly used to kill and maim starving Palestinians.”

Countries supplying arms to Israel have been facing mounting pressure to halt weapons sale to Tel Aviv since the regime launched its military offensive against Gaza in early October. Israeli forces have so far killed more than 30,500 Palestinians, mostly children and women, in the besieged territory.

Source: presstv.ir

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https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2024/03/05/721344/Canada-arms-sale-Israel-war-crimes

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Blinken meets with Qatari counterpart, says there is 'opportunity' for cease-fire in Gaza

Rabia İclal Turan 

06.03.2024

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Tuesday with his Qatari counterpart amid efforts to reach a six-week cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in exchange for a hostage deal.

Blinken said ahead of his meeting with Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani at the State Department that there is an "opportunity for an immediate cease-fire that can bring hostages home, that can dramatically increase the amount of humanitarian assistance getting to Palestinians who so desperately need it, and can also set the conditions for an enduring resolution."

"And it is on Hamas to make decisions about whether it is prepared to engage in that cease-fire," he added.

Blinken also noted that the US will continue to press Israel to maximize "every possible means" to get humanitarian assistance into Gaza and to make sure it can get to the people who need it.

Al-Thani, who is Qatar's prime minister and foreign minister, said Qatar will continue to work with its partners to make the cease-fire agreement happen.

"We want to see an end to the humanitarian suffering. We want to see the hostages back with their families," he said.

In a joint statement, the two countries said Blinken and Al-Thani met as part of the sixth US-Qatar Strategic Dialogue and discussed a wide range of topics ranging from economic and security cooperation to technology.

Blinken appreciated Qatar’s mediation efforts to "facilitate humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza and secure the release of hostages, including US citizens, held by Hamas," according to the statement.

The US, Qatar and Egypt have been working for weeks to reach an agreement in which Hamas would release up to 40 hostages and Israel would release some Palestinian prisoners in return for a six-week cease-fire.

US President Joe Biden said Tuesday that the ball is now in Hamas’s court regarding a possible cease-fire deal.

"It’s in the hands of Hamas right now. The Israelis have been cooperating. There’s been a rational offer. We will know in a couple of days what’s gonna happen. We need a cease-fire," Biden told reporters before boarding Air Force One in Hagerstown, Maryland.

Hamas spokesman Jihad Taha said “the ball is in the Israeli court,” adding they were "open to proposals and initiatives that are consistent with its position calling for a cease-fire, withdrawal, the return of the displaced, the entry of relief convoys and reconstruction.”

He said Israel had thus far refused Hamas's demands for people who fled northern Gaza to be allowed to return and for guarantees of a long-term cease-fire and full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

Israel has launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip following a cross-border incursion by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023. The ensuing Israeli bombardment has killed at least 30,631 people and injured 72,043 others with mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza

Source: aa.com.tr

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Blinken urges Israel to take 'urgent steps' to expand humanitarian aid in Gaza

Rabia İclal Turan 

06.03.2024

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held "frank" discussions Tuesday with Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz about the situation in Gaza and urged Israel to take "urgent steps" to expand the delivery and distribution of humanitarian aid, including by opening additional crossings.

"We want to see another crossing open, and it’s something we’re engaged with quite directly with the Israeli government, and that includes in the conversation that the Secretary had with Minister Gantz today,” said State Department spokesman Mathew Miller.

He said Blinken was "quite direct and quite frank about the seriousness of the situation on the ground and the fact that it is incumbent on everyone involved to do more to get aid in urgently, as soon as possible."

Miller said Blinken underscored the importance of reaching an agreement to achieve the release of Israeli hostages held by the Palestinian group Hamas, which would lead to a temporary cease-fire and allow additional humanitarian assistance to enter Gaza.

"The Secretary emphasized that even as talks to reach such an agreement proceed, Israel must take urgent steps to expand the delivery and distribution of humanitarian aid, including by opening additional crossings," he said. 

"The Secretary (also) underscored the need for a credible and implementable humanitarian plan prior to any major military operation in Rafah, given the risks to civilians," he added.

Gantz flew to Washington to meet with top US officials amid calls from the Biden administration on Israel to increase the amount of humanitarian aid into Gaza and ongoing talks to reach a temporary cease-fire and hostage deal. Prior to meeting with Blinken, Gantz met with Vice President Kamala Harris and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

Israel has launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip following a cross-border incursion by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023. The ensuing Israeli bombardment has killed at least 30,631 people and injured 72,043 others with mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

Source: aa.com.tr

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https://www.aa.com.tr/en/world/blinken-urges-israel-to-take-urgent-steps-to-expand-humanitarian-aid-in-gaza/3156485

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Europe

 

Nine Years After Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’, Muslims Launch A Counterpart “Al-Mizan: A Covenant for the Earth”

March 5, 2024

 Fredrick Nzwili

NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) — When Pope Francis released his encyclical on the environment, “Laudato Si’,” in 2015, Muslims, Hindus and other faith leaders joined Christians in dialogues in response to the pontiff’s powerful call to tend to climate change as a matter of faith. Now, nine years later, Islamic leaders have released a counterpart to the Vatican document.

On Feb. 27, at a meeting on the sidelines of the sixth annual session of the United Nations Environment Assembly in Nairobi, Muslim scholars, U.N. officials and some Christian leaders unveiled “Al-Mizan: A Covenant for the Earth.”

“‘Al-Mizan’ … perfectly allows the global efforts to tackle the triple plenary crises,” Leila Benali, president of UNEA-6 and Morocco’s minister for energy transition and sustainable development, said in announcing the document’s release. “ … It acknowledges the severity of the triple crises, including pollution, including climate change, including biodiversity loss, nature and also injustice in sharing the resources of life.”

“Al-Mizan,” or “balance” in English, gives a Muslim perspective on how faith can inform and inspire action in the face of current global ecological challenges. It calls on Muslims and the broader global community to unite to restore ecological balance and preserve the Earth for future generations.

“Environmentalism is deeply embedded in the veins of Islam. It is about personal behavior and how it manifests itself in our association with others and also about being considerate in our relationship with the natural world and other sentient beings,” said a U.N. statement.

“Al-Mizan,” the announcement said, is based on Quranic principles of encouraging public good, forbidding wrong action and acting in moderation.

The document was drafted by scholars and members of leading Islamic organizations, including the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences and Uskudar University in Istanbul. The experts were assembled by the United Nations Environmental Program’s Faith for Earth Coalition, a group that unites diverse faith groups around the issue of the environment.

“The word ‘Al-Mizan,’ the title of our treatise, means equilibrium and reciprocity. The Quran describes all beings as balanced and integrated in interconnected and interdependent equilibrium,” said Othman Llewellyn, one of its lead authors.

According to the scholar, God had unfolded all things in a balance with one another, and all things need, support and benefit the other.

“Nothing is created wantonly or in vain. All are created in truth and for right, and each has rights on us: that we care for it,” said Llewellyn, a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s World Commission on Protected Areas and World Commission on Environmental Law.

Christian leaders said the document struck a balance between the Islamic worldview and the Christian perspective, particularly that of the Catholic Church.

“In many ways, ‘Al-Mizan’ is the Islamic equivalent to ‘Laudato Si’,’ the encyclical of Pope Francis, and more recently, the ‘Laudate Deum,’ a follow-up document,” Catholic Archbishop Hubertus van Megen, the apostolic nuncio in Kenya and South Sudan, told those gathered for the announcement. “‘Al-Mizan,’ although building entirely on its own profound Islamic tradition, resonates in many ways the teachings of ‘Laudato Si’.’

“In fact, I would like to invite all of you to read them in tandem, as they raise together a harmonious song of praise, who is the creator of the universe,” said van Megen.

The prelate said the new document showed believers that religion did not limit science but gave it the flesh and blood to make it vigorous and life-giving for those who believe in God.

“‘Al-Mizan’ is therefore not only about a balanced and equitable approach to nature, but its very method is also a beautiful witness to a balanced dialogue between faith and reason. These two do not exclude each other … but rather are complementary to each other, as the document abundantly shows.”

Source: religionnews.com

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https://religionnews.com/2024/03/05/nine-years-after-pope-francis-laudato-si-muslims-launch-a-counterpart/

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Britain to warn Israel’s Gantz over famine in Gaza

06 Mar 2024

LONDON, March 6 — Britain will warn Israel on Wednesday that its patience is running thin over the “dreadful suffering” in Gaza, where a lack of aid is leading people to die of hunger, foreign minister David Cameron said.

Cameron, who is due to meet Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz on Wednesday, told parliament late on Tuesday that Israel’s handling of aid for Gaza, as the occupying power, raised questions over its compliance with international law.

“We are facing a situation of dreadful suffering in Gaza,” Cameron told the upper House of Lords. “I spoke some weeks ago about the danger of this tipping into famine and the danger of illness tipping into disease; and we are now at that point.

“People are dying of hunger; people are dying of otherwise preventable diseases.”

Britain, like the United States, initially gave its backing to Israel’s assault on Gaza in response to an attack by the militant group Hamas on Oct. 7 that killed 1,200 people and took 253 hostages back to the enclave.

But Cameron, a former prime minister, has stepped up calls for a ceasefire in recent weeks as Palestinian health authorities put the death toll at 30,000 people and the United Nations warned that many were on the brink of starvation.

Cameron told parliament that aid going to Gaza in February was around half the amount that was delivered in January.

“The patience needs to run very thin and a whole series of warnings needs to be given, starting, I hope, with a meeting I have with Minister Gantz when he visits the UK tomorrow,” he said.

Gantz, a political rival to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, heard a similar message when he met U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris in Washington on Monday. She said Israel needed to craft a “credible” humanitarian plan for Gaza, after she previously warned that conditions there were “inhumane”.

The UN and other relief agencies have accused Israel of blocking or restricting aid into Gaza - a charge it denies.

Cameron said too many items were rejected from being sent to Gaza because they “are supposedly dual-use goods”.

Israel has said it is committed to improving the humanitarian situation in Gaza and there is no limit on the aid for civilians. It has blamed the United Nations for any delivery issues, saying limitations on the quantity and pace of aid are dependent on the capacity of the U.N. and other agencies. (Reporting by Kate Holton; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

Source: malaymail.com

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UK to create 'blacklist' of Muslim groups under new extremism definition

Mar 05, 2024

Tariq Tahir

The UK government is creating a “blacklist” of organisations under a new definition of extremism which would see their funding cut.

Several Muslim groups are likely to be on the list after being singled out in government reports.

The groups facing the measures as part of Communities Secretary Michael Gove’s extremism review would be banned from receiving public funds, engaging with government agencies and appearing at university campuses.

The government would stop short of criminalising such groups, unlike Hizb ut-Tahrir which it proscribed in January.

However, groups expected to be on the list have suggested it would amount to a curb on freedom of expression.

The largest Muslim group in the UK, the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), as well as Muslim Engagement and Development (MEND) and Palestine Action have been named by British media as earmarked for inclusion.

The Muslim Council for Britain Charitable Foundations last year received £326,000 from Kickstart, a government scheme to get young people into work. The Ministry of Defence seprately cut ties with the group itself.

MEND campaigns against Islamophobia but has been accused of undermining the UK's Prevent counter-terrorism programme.

Palestine Action has been organising demonstrations, including at a factory they claim supplies parts for drones made by Israeli firm Elbit Systems and used by the country's military. They have also plotted to disrupt the London Stock Exchange.

The overhaul follows Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s calls on Friday for the UK to draw a line against the “poison of extremism” as he warned the country was being torn apart by rising domestic tension.

Mr Gove intends to take a tougher stance on groups and individuals “undermining” British values by changing the UK’s definition of extremism which has not been altered for over a decade.

He is also expected to announce details of a government unit for combating extremism which will provide training for officials across departments to improve their ability to identify extremism. The unit will be responsible for assessing whether individuals or groups have breached the new definition.

Whitehall departments have been banned from working directly with the MCB since 2009, and in 2020, Robert Jenrick, the then communities secretary, reinforced the boycott position in a letter.

In response to news of the forthcoming review, the MCB claimed that the ruling Conservative party's own politicians should be held to account under the new policy.

“We await to see how the government will expand its definition of extremism and whether they would also cover large swathes of the Conservative Party leadership who have directed divisive and hateful rhetoric against Muslims, and the large portion of the party’s membership with conspiratorial views about Muslims,” it said in a statement.

“That the same people would choose to consider mainstream, diverse and democratic British Muslim representative bodies as extremist is particularly ironic.”

MEND claimed pro-Palestinian marches “would be banned” under the “Orwellian proposals” which are a “blatant attack on freedom of expression”, as would a “range of beliefs” including opposing the monarchy.

“We will not sit by and idly watch our cherished democracy destroyed like this. MEND calls on parliamentarians and civil society organisations to work together to resist this draconian legislation.”

A spokesman for Palestine Action said that “no definition” of extremism “will deter our campaign to shut Elbit down”.

Mr Gove's department would not be drawn on which groups would be blacklisted but did not deny measures were under consideration.

“We are taking action to tackle extremism at its root and to ensure that no extremist organisations or individuals are being given a platform by their actions and interactions with government,” said a representative.

“This would absolutely not affect lawful expressions of beliefs and we will publish robust engagement principles and clear guidance for their implementation.

“Freedom of religion and freedom of speech within the law are important and hard-fought British liberties. It is important to distinguish between strongly felt debate on the one hand, and unacceptable acts of abuse, intimidation and violence on the other.”

Source: thenationalnews.com

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https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/uk-news/2024/03/05/uk-to-create-blacklist-of-muslim-groups-under-new-extremism-definition/

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France arrests three teens over links to Brussels jihadist suspects

March 06, 2024

PARIS: Police in France have detained three teenagers who were allegedly in contact with four people arrested in Belgium over the weekend on suspicions they were planning a jihadist attack, a source close to the case said Tuesday.

The three minors, aged 15 to 17, are not thought to be implicated directly in what was considered a looming attack on a Brussels concert hall, but allegedly have espoused extremist Islamist beliefs, the source said, confirming an online report by France’s Journal du Dimanche newspaper.

Belgian police on Sunday detained three minors in their “late teens” and an 18-year-old for what prosecutors said were messages plotting an attack deemed “imminent enough to intervene.”

A source close to the investigation told AFP the three minors in particular were targeting the Botanique cultural complex, one of the capital’s best-known sites.

The initial investigation indicates the adult suspect was planning a separate attack, and was in contact with one of the three minors.

The arrests stemmed from a police operation looking into people deemed potentially violent and with links to Islamic extremism.

The suspects were arrested in raids on home addresses in the cities of Brussels, Ninove, Charleroi and Liege.

No weapons or explosives were found. Police took away mobile phones and laptops for analysis.

Belgian authorities remain highly vigilant since the 2016 jihadist attacks by suicide bombers that killed more than 30 people in blasts at the Brussels airport and the city’s metro system.

And in October last year, a Tunisian man shot dead two Swedish football fans in Brussels before being shot and killed by police.

Source: arabnews.com

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London police chief rebukes PM’s criticism of handling of Palestine protests

March 05, 2024

LONDON: The chief of London’s Metropolitan Police on Tuesday hit back at criticism from the British prime minister over the force’s handling of pro-Palestinian protests in the city since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

Rishi Sunak on Friday made a speech about the rise of extremism in the UK, in which he accused the Met of managing, not policing, the demonstrations.

“This week I have met with senior police officers and made clear it is the public’s expectation that they will not merely manage these protests, but police them,” the prime minister said.

“And I say this to the police, we will back you when you take action.”

Numerous protests have been held in London and other UK cities following Israel’s military response to the Hamas attack, in which 1,200 people were killed. More than 30,000 civilians have since been killed in Gaza.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley, during a session with the London Policing Board on Tuesday, said Sunak’s comments were inaccurate, adding that while most protests were peaceful, his officers often felt undermined and some had faced death threats.

“We’re always operating in a very challenging political environment where tensions remain high and hate crime is still a long way above pre-Oct. 7 levels,” Rowley said.

“Policing is used to being criticized. But where it isn’t justified, I do worry about the impact it has on our officers and staff, and on public confidence as we strive to operate without fear or favor.

“So, despite warm words, officers do not feel supported. And that is degrading their confidence and willingness to act in a whole range of situations. Not only protest.”

Rowley said the cost of policing the protests since October had reached £30 million ($38.1 million) and he urged Sunak’s government to bear some if not all of the cost, adding that resources had been pulled away from fighting other crime as a result.

The commissioner highlighted how criticism of the police’s handling of the protests from the left and right wings of British politics had made his officers’ jobs harder. He made reference to former Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s “two-tier policing” accusations of the Met’s clamping down harder on far-right protesters than on anti-war demonstrators.

“At the moment, one side of the debate seems to say that we are guilty of two-tier policing and the other side says that we are oppressive and clamping down on the right to freedom of speech,” he said.

“In this context of polarized public debate, I do think sometimes that we’re the first people who are able to be labeled simultaneously woke and fascists.

“To suggest that we are not, where the law permits, as the law allows, policing robustly, is inaccurate. At each of the major protests where the majority have been peaceful, we’ve seen wrongdoing and we’ve acted.

“We have to police the law as it is, not as others would wish it to be.”

Source: arabnews.com

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Ukraine’s Muslim Military Chaplains Fight for Recognition

MARCH 5, 2024

Late last year, as losses mounted in Ukraine’s failed summer offensive, a drama of death and solemn religious duty unfolded in an isolated Muslim community in Ukraine. Drohobych is a small city 31 miles from the Polish border, far off the beaten track of Ukraine’s Islamic culture. There are around half a million Muslims in Ukraine, mostly in the east and south, but only 100 live in this nondescript provincial town.

Yet late on an October evening the office of Ukraine’s chief Muslim military chaplain got on the phone to Drohobych’s imam. Junior Lieutenant Muhammad Ali, a military chaplain who works for one of the country’s most prominent clerics, had an urgent request: Drive some 186 miles south to Berehove, an even smaller town in the Transcarpathia Province. Go to the local military hospital. Prepare the body of combat medic, Samad Minorov, for burial.

Ali himself had only discovered Minorov’s Muslim background the day before. One of Minorov’s relatives, who had fled to western Europe in the war’s early days, had called to say that the soldier needed an Islamic burial. This was news not only to Ali, as a representative of Ukraine’s office of Muslim military chaplains, but to the entire military administration. Although Minorov had been a medic for years, he had never told anyone about his faith.

With no information to go on, the military had defaulted to a standard funeral service. “If I didn’t find someone to prepare his body,” Ali explained by phone from his Kyiv office, “tomorrow he [would] be buried like everyone, like a regular Ukrainian, like a Christian.”

Muslim chaplains like Muhammad Ali face distinctive challenges as a religious minority in the Ukrainian military. Ukraine’s military has fewer than 200 full-time Christian religious leaders in service. Most of these are Orthodox Christian priests in this Orthodox-majority country, but there are only five Muslim chaplains.

Muslim chaplains feel a special obligation to support Muslim soldiers — not only by organizing last rites but also by advocating for Muslim soldiers’ needs to Ukraine’s military administration. However, some soldiers like Minorov choose to keep their religious identity to themselves.

Despite Ukraine’s efforts to professionalize the military chaplaincy, when Muslim soldiers don’t disclose their faith, it makes the job of the Muslim chaplain not only complicated but occasionally urgent. As in Minorov’s case, chaplains are forced to make funeral arrangements on short notice in far-flung locales, all to fulfill one of their faith’s most solemn obligations.

Ukraine’s Muslim Soldiers

Ukrainian Muslims are a diverse community of converts, indigenous groups, and immigrants. There are an estimated 500,000 Muslims in Ukraine. Sunnis and Shia from central Asian countries moved to cities during the Soviet period. Around 250,000 Tatars, a Turkic group of Muslims who converted in the 14th century, claim the Black Sea Crimean Peninsula as their homeland.

Ukraine’s military has always had Muslim soldiers, but they began joining in greater numbers after Russia annexed the Crimean Tatar homeland in 2014.

Said Ismagilov, one of Ukraine’s most prominent Muslim leaders, was the mufti of an umbrella Muslim organization in 2015 when the government took the first steps to meet these soldiers’ religious needs. According to Ismagilov, Ukrainian Muslim leaders had to work from scratch to figure out what to do. “We did not have any suitable model from Muslim countries, [so] we looked at how Christians in Ukraine do it and adapted this practice to the needs of Islam,” he said.

At the time, Muslim soldiers were spread thin in Ukraine’s military, with maybe only three or four serving in a single unit. It was impossible for Muslim chaplains to be permanently in one place or stationed with one unit, Ismagilov explained. Instead, Muslim chaplains traveled up and down the frontlines. They stopped in units where they knew Muslim soldiers had been posted, relying on the soldiers themselves to identify themselves.

The number of Muslim chaplains has remained the same since 2015; there are five clerics serving the entire military. While the ranks of Muslim soldiers have grown dramatically after Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion, there are no Muslim-only units. Muslim soldiers are scattered along a frontline that stretches some 620 miles.

“In such conditions, it is difficult to organize Friday or holiday prayers,” Ismagilov said.“ The imam-chaplain conducts individual meetings and prayers with small groups of Muslims.”

He added, “The entire activity of a Muslim chaplain in Ukraine is movement between positions to meet with Muslims.”

Advocacy

Nowadays, years after the military commissioned the first Muslim chaplains, not even Imam Marad Putilin, who heads up the Muslim section of the Department of Military Chaplaincy, can say exactly how many Muslims soldiers are fighting for Ukraine. Putilin, who converted as a young adult in Kharkiv, worked with Ismagilov to set up the Muslim chaplaincy. Although he is a prominent military official, he does not hold back from advocating for Muslim soldiers’ needs, even in interviews with Ukrainian news outlets.

In a November 2022 interview with the Religious Information Service of Ukraine, Putilin complained that the government was failing to record soldiers’ religion. Entire battalions of Muslim soldiers had joined since Russia’s full-scale invasion, he said, adding: “I can only note that now it has become much larger than in 2015 and other years when the fighting was only in the Donbas.”

While government record-keeping is a problem, according to Putilin, soldiers themselves have various reasons for keeping their faith to themselves. Many Crimean Tatars hide their identities because they have relatives behind Russian lines. Other Muslims simply feel faith isn’t important. They grew up in secular households during the Soviet period, for example, when the state discouraged religious faith of all kinds.

Still others are worried they’ll be excluded from the military’s macho esprit de corps. In a September 2021 interview with the Religion In Ukraine news service, Putilin told a story about meeting a Muslim soldier who kept his faith a secret from his frontline unit. Asked why, according to Putilin the young man explained, “You know, here with the guys I smoke, and I can get drunk, and eat all sorts of things. I don’t tell anyone that I’m Muslim.”

Many faith traditions discourage smoking and drinking, and Christian soldiers who follow rules about a healthier lifestyle could also be ostracized. Nevertheless, it’s widely acknowledged, even among Ukrainian Muslims with no official connections to the military, that Muslim soldiers keep quiet about their identity.

An NGO worker I met at the Drohobych Islamic community center, Viacheslav Mysko, recounted a story about one soldier, a personal friend, who hides his identity with a nickname. The soldier uses the Slavic-sounding Vasya. His real name is Vahid, a version of the Arabic name Wahid. “There are a lot of Muslims who are fighting,” Mysko said, “but few know that they are Muslim.”

Changing Attitudes

According to Muslim military chaplain Oleg Chanturia, these attitudes are changing. Now that Russian forces are on the offensive, with drones flying overhead, soldiers routinely face the risk of death and deal with extremes of stress and anxiety. Muslims, like their comrades, are turning to faith. Chanturia himself conducted our interview from an underground bunker; for security reasons, he couldn’t reveal his location, but he was confident that as a chaplain he was making a positive difference for Ukrainian society. “In Ukraine, religious belief is alive and progressing,” Chanturia said.

With Muslim chaplains stretched so thin, local imams and Muslim community leaders regularly step in to provide for soldiers’ needs, and not only by welcoming them to Friday prayers. They also help meet soldiers’ material needs, sending care packages of halal food to the front lines. A system of rules called halal dictate not only what Muslims may eat (no pork, for example) but also how that food is prepared. (Halal makes provisions for the humane treatment of animals, for example).

Putilin has been complaining since 2015 about military food, speaking in interviews with Ukrainian journalists. In his 2021 interview with Religion In Ukraine, he said that local imams still send meat, stew, sausage, and canned goods to the front, because Ukraine has not yet figured out how to provide soldiers with food they can eat that will also allow them to adhere to their religious tradition.

“Nothing Yet”

For his part, Muhammad Ali echoed Putilin’s complaints. “It’s still in progress, still nothing yet,” he said. But halal rules also provide for exceptions under extreme circumstances, including war. “Maybe if it were peacetime, the army could make some changes,” he explained, “but we’re in a battle for the existence of our country.”

When a Muslim soldier dies, chaplains work with the soldiers’ family on funeral services. If the family says the soldier was a Muslim, the administration will call in Ali, Putilin, or someone else.

But that isn’t always an easy task. The massive displacement following the 2022 invasion has made it difficult to contact some soldiers’ families. In some cases, it’s impossible, especially when the family has settled in Europe or further abroad.

Before he was drafted Minorov had lived in Berehove, a small town in western Ukraine with no mosque and no organized Muslim community. Although Minorov’s remains were in Berehove, there was no imam close by to prepare the body for burial.

To solve these problems and make good on their duties, chaplains like Ali are learning about new Islamic communities in places like Drohobych, and forging ties with the local imams who are putting down roots as refugees.

“You Have to Help”

In Drohobych, Imam Abdurahman Islyamov led me on a tour through the city’s Islamic community center on a Friday afternoon. Islyamov, a Crimean Tatar, moved here with his family in 2014. They were the only Muslims for hundreds of miles. Eventually, he persuaded friends and relatives to join them. By 2018, the community was big enough that they asked Drohobych’s government for a space to hold Friday prayers, and the mayor donated an unused downtown office building.

After the prayer service in the second-floor prayer hall, Islyamov led me into a side office to meet with community leaders, including the NGO worker Viacheslav Mysko, who is also from Crimea. While Ukrainian Muslims are a small minority, the two men had never met Ali before his phone call. This is not surprising, since Muslims live throughout the country, and Crimean Tatars like Islyamov and Mysko have their own leadership and organizations.

Ali grew up in Kharkiv, more than 620 miles from Islyamov’s hometown on the Crimean Peninsula. Ali’s father was Syrian, so he belongs to the umbrella group representing Muslims who immigrated to Ukraine. Crimean Tatars belong to an organization called the Mejlis, with its own religious and political leadership.

According to Ismagilov, the former politician, relations between Crimean Tatars and other Muslims are good. Top-level officials coordinate when there is a need to represent Muslims’ needs to Ukrainian government officials, he explained. However, this kind of coordination was new at this lower level of Ukrainian Muslim life.

Although Ali was a stranger to Islyamov, the imam snapped into action at Ali’s request for help. He reached out to Mysko who was in Lithuania picking up a shipment of humanitarian aid. Mysko has friends in Transcarpathia’s military administration, so he contacted the hospital holding Minorov’s body. Meanwhile, Islyamov called around to shops. Maybe someone could open up their store so he could buy the necessary materials.

Mysko underscored the urgency: “We didn’t know [Minorov] personally, but it doesn’t matter. You have to help. And if you don’t try to help, it’s considered a sin.”

Working with Ali on funerals is not only about supporting the military, but also a way to do one’s religious duty. “We have to do it,” Islyamov added, “And if we have to, then we put effort into it, because we are responsible for it before God.”

In the end, an imam from Lviv arrived in Berehove before Islyamov. While Islyamov had been rushing to gather supplies, Ali had called someone else who had what he needed on hand. Nevertheless, both men were pleased simply that duty had been done.

“It was not done by our hands,” Islyamov explained, “but we are satisfied that the obligation was fulfilled.”

Commemorating the Fallen

Military service, especially during war, often helps diverse societies discover a national common cause. The same goes for chaplains who are finding themselves thrown together with religious colleagues they would not have met otherwise. Christian military chaplains I interviewed spoke mostly about discovering what they had in common with Christian colleagues from the country’s distant and unfamiliar regions. Sometimes for the first time, at military training sessions evangelical Baptist pastors from Transcarpathia are sitting next to Greek Catholics priests from Lviv and Orthodox priests from Kharkiv.

The case of Samad Minorov’s burial shows how Ukrainian Muslim military chaplains are going through this same process of discovery and unification within their own religious community. Ukraine’s Muslim chaplains, even in these urgent circumstances, were able to arrange for Minorov’s body to be prepared according to Islamic tradition.

Muslim officials at the highest levels of the Ukrainian military now have the occasion to meet and collaborate with local leaders throughout the country, including imams like Islyamov as he works to integrate his community into their new home in Drohobych, far from their Crimean homeland and Ukraine’s historic hubs of Islamic culture.

After the interview, Mysko offered me a ride in his sedan. Snow had started to fall in the gray dusk. For a while, the traffic flowed easily on the two-lane road out of town, until we came to a stationary line of cars. We pulled into the line and waited, curious about the cause of the traffic jam, until I heard Mysko say, “Look there!”

Coming toward us, on the other side, an Orthodox priest in a long black cassock was holding up a heavy metal cross. A step behind, a woman grasped an ornate picture frame. I looked at the photo as she approached Mysko’s door. It was dark, but I caught a glimpse of green fatigues. Suddenly, the line of some 15 people following behind made sense: a soldier’s funeral.

As the war presses on, there will be more of these solemn processions on the streets of Ukrainian cities. No matter what direction the fighting takes next, there will be more opportunities to commemorate soldiers who lost their lives in the fight.

Besides sacrifice on the battlefield, these funerals also speak to the religious dedication of Ukraine’s military chaplains. For the Muslim community, it is not just commissioned officers helping bury the deceased. Local imams, people like Abdurahman Islyamov, also pitch in when needed. Meanwhile, as more Muslims sign up for the fight, Putilin said, “This cooperation means serving both God and Ukraine.”

Source: inkstickmedia.com

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Africa

 

“Muslim-Muslim ticket not a solution to Nigeria’s challenges” – Shariah Council

 Jerry Wright-Ukwu

March 6, 2024

The President of the Supreme Council for Shariah in Nigeria (SCSN), Sheikh Abdurrasheed Hadiytullah, has stated that the Muslim-Muslim ticket of the Bola Tinubu-led administration does not guarantee a solution to the country’s challenges.

Speaking at the annual Pre-Ramadan meeting of the SCSN, Hadiytullah said: “The idea of a Muslim-Muslim ticket in our political life has been emphatically established.

“But of course, the idea of a Muslim-Muslim agenda, which we believe is the right of the Muslim majority in a democracy, is not, on its own, a solution to the myriad of challenges facing our country.

“We are indeed facing near existential challenges,

the resolution of which will require more than halfhearted efforts from all of us.”

Speaking further, Hadiytullah lamented that Nigerians are “living in turbulent and unpredictable times characterized by fear, insecurity, excruciating poverty, mutual distrust, corruption, and despondency.”

He says, “Millions of our frustrated youths face an uncertain future and diminishing possibilities.

“The paramount challenge before us is how best to confront these issues, instill hope, and, with the help of Allah, turn our situation around to success, security, and prosperity.”

Source: politicsnigeria.com

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South Africa warns of ‘unbelievable tragedy’ if talks fail on cease-fire in Gaza

Hassan Isilow

06.03.2024

JOHANNESBURG South Africa’s foreign minister warned Tuesday that if talks on the release of hostages and a cease-fire in Gaza fail, there will be an "unbelievable tragedy and catastrophe.”

Naledi Pandor told public broadcaster SABC that they have asked their ambassador at the United Nations to make all efforts to talk to other ambassadors and encourage the passing of an urgent resolution for a cease-fire.

“We think at the moment that everybody should be focused on an immediate cease-fire,” Pandor said.

She added that if a cease-fire is not reached, the world will witness a terrible catastrophe even worse than what it has seen unfolding.

“I wish I could say to the people of Palestine and all Muslims ‘Ramadan Mubarak’ (Blessed Ramadan), but for the people of Palestine, I’m just seeing a deadly situation if the world does not address this urgent matter of an immediate cease-fire,” said Pandor.

The top diplomat said if countries with the most powerful militaries such as the US and UK could come together and say they see the harm, suffering and denial of food and water to Palestinians and send their troops to safely escort hundreds of aid trucks into Gaza, this would be a gesture of humanitarian peace that would save lives.

“At this moment…I remain terrified that we are going to see more harm to the people of Palestine…I’m totally feeling useless as a human being that we are unable to rescue people from their deadly situation,” she said.

South Africa has condemned Israel’s war on Gaza and late last year, it accused Israel of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Netherlands.

An interim ruling by the court in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

Israel has launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip following a cross-border incursion by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023. The ensuing Israeli bombardment has killed at least 30,631 people and injured 72,043 others with mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Source: aa.com.tr

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Sudan soon to be ‘world’s largest hunger crisis’: WFP

MARCH 06, 2024

PORT SUDAN: Sudan’s nearly 11-month war between rival generals “risks triggering the world’s largest hunger crisis”, the United Nations’ World Food Programme warned Wednesday.

The war between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, has killed tens of thousands, destroyed infrastructure and crippled Sudan’s economy.

It has also uprooted more than eight million people, in addition to two million who had already been forced from their homes before the conflict – making it the world’s largest displacement crisis.

Now, “millions of lives and the peace and stability of an entire region are at stake”, WFP executive director Cindy McCain said.

Attack in area claimed by Sudan, South Sudan, leaves 32 dead

“Twenty years ago, Darfur was the world’s largest hunger crisis and the world rallied to respond,” she said, referring to the vast western region of Sudan.

“But today, the people of Sudan have been forgotten.”

The RSF are themselves descended from the Janjaweed militia, which was used by former dictator Omar al-Bashir against ethnic minority rebels in Darfur in the early 2000s.

In the current war, both the RSF and the army have been accused of indiscriminate shelling of residential areas, targeting civilians and obstructing and commandeering essential aid.

The WFP is currently unable to access 90 percent of those facing “emergency levels of hunger”, and says only five percent of Sudan’s population “can afford a square meal a day”.

In crowded transit camps in South Sudan, where 600,000 people from Sudan have fled, “families arrive hungry and are met with more hunger”, the UN food agency said.

One in five children crossing the border was malnourished, it added.

Across Sudan, 18 million people are facing acute food security, five million of whom are at catastrophic levels of hunger – the highest emergency classification short of famine.

Source: brecorder.com

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About 100K displaced in Mozambique over renewed violence

MARCH 06, 2024

More than 99,000 people including 61,492 children have fled their homes due to renewed violence in northern Mozambique, Save the Children said Tuesday.

In a statement, the British charity said multiple cases of violent confrontation between armed groups and security forces had been reported in several districts across Cabo Delgado province.

It said more than 99,313 people fled their homes between Dec. 22 and March 3.

Cabo Delgado has been restive for years, with one armed militant group there believed to be affiliated with the Daesh terrorist group.

In 2021, the group attacked the coastal town of Palma near the border with Tanzania, killing dozens and injuring scores of others.

Save the Children said the conflict in Cabo Delgado, now in its seventh year, has taken a devastating human toll.

“There are repeated reports of beheadings and abductions, including multiple child victims. The conflict has already left 540,000 people displaced, with more than half of them children,” the charity said.

Save the Children has made an urgent appeal to protect children, saying “this wave of violence is a renewed attack on education, with more than 100 schools closed across six districts in Cabo Delgado, including an additional 17 schools in Nampula, affecting nearly 71,000 children,” the statement said.

The charity further revealed that some children are seven years old now longing to go to school for the first time this year but are now fleeing for their lives.

‘‘These children have never known life without war and sadly belong to a growing generation of children whose childhood has become elusive,” it said.

Fresh clashes broke out a few weeks ago in Ocua, Mazeze and Chiure-Velho, in the Chiure district, with the displaced people fleeing to the town of Chiure or to Erati in neighbouring Nampula province.

The northern province of Mozambique is rich in natural gas, and companies such as France’s Total SE are to extract liquefied natural gas (LNG) from offshore sites in the Indian Ocean.

Source: trtworld.com

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Kebbi to Provide Ramadan Relief to Masses, Free Petrol to Farmers

Haruna Usman

 Mar 5, 2024

Kebbi State Government has evolved Special Programme for Ramadan Feeding under which foodstuffs and grains would be distributed free to the people.

The Commissioner for Agriculture, Alhaji Shehu Mu’azu, announced this at the weekly Ministerial Press Briefing organised by the Ministry of Information and Culture, in Birnin Kebbi on Monday.

Alhaji Shehu Mu’azu, said the gesture was in the spirit of compassion and benevolence of Governor Nasir Idris within the context of the welfarist policy of incumbent administration.

Furthermore, the government has finalised process to supply petrol free to farmers engaged in irrigation farming to lessen the burden of production cost and help them to increase yields.

Enumerating the achievements recorded in the agricultural sector by the present administration, under the leadership of Kebbi State Governor, Comrade Dr Nasir Idris, Kauran Gwandu, the Commissioner narrated that, Governor Nasir Idris has launched the “Kaura Agricultural Development and Growth Agenda, KADAGE”, aimed at improving the production of food and cash crops with emphasis on rice cultivation to strengthen the leading position of Kebbi State as the rice hub of Nigeria.

He informed journalists that the administration has paid counterpart fund to the Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Programme, RAAMP, of three hundred and fifty million naira.

Under the scheme, 240 kilometres of road have been identified for improvement, upgrading and routine maintenance to provide access to farmers to transport farm produce to various destinations.

In addition, thirty thousand farmers in Kebbi State are participating in dry season irrigation farming of the Federal Government in rice production, seven thousand, five hundred farmers in maize production while two thousand farmers are taking part in cassava cultivation.

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The Commissioner said the state government would also construct two Agro logistics hub in Argungu Town and in Mahuta, Fakai Local Government.

Already, the Kauran Gwandu led administration has procured and distributed fertiliser worth N2.6 billion to farmers free, distributed palliative grains of N5.6 billion to all communities free, and carried out aerial spray against queala birds destroying rice and millet.

Likewise, distribution is on going to farmers, of six thousand units of solar powered irrigation pumps, three hundred power tillers, three hundred motorised pump sprayer while approval has been made for the purchase of ten thousand units of CNG irrigation pumps and ten thousand units for CNG conversion kits to be provided to farmers to facilitate food security.

The Commissioner for Information and Culture, Alhaji Yakubu Ahmad Birnin Kebbi, coordinated the Press Briefing.

He said the briefing was part of the efforts under the Ministry of Information in collaboration with other Ministries to abreast the society of the myriads of achievements recorded by the Kauran Gwandu-led administration in the State.

Source: independent.ng

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https://independent.ng/kebbi-to-provide-ramadan-relief-to-masses-free-petrol-to-farmers/

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Guinea-Bissau president holds talks with Palestine's Abbas

 Mar 5, 2024

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas held talks on Monday with the President of Guinea-Bissau, Umaro Sissoco Embaló, in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

According to the Palestinian News Agency (WAFA), Abbas briefed the Guinea-Bissau leader on developments in Israel's war on Gaza.

Abbas thanked Embaló for Guinea-Bissau’s positions in international forums in support of the Palestinian people, stressing his eagerness to work to strengthen historical bilateral relations, according to WAFA.

Before traveling to Ramallah, Emablo met with Israel President Isaac Herzog on Sunday.

Embalo is the first African leader to visit Israel since the start of its deadly war on Gaza, which has pitted most African countries against Telaviv.

Source: africanews.com

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https://www.africanews.com/2024/03/05/guinea-bissau-president-holds-talks-with-palestines-abbas/

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Arab World

 

OIC chief calls for UNRWA funding surge in speech condemning Israeli aggression

March 05, 2024

JEDDAH: Countries around the world must increase funding to UNRWA in an effort to improve services for Palestinians and safeguard regional security, the head of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation has said.

Secretary-General Hissein Brahim Taha made the comments in an opening statement for the extraordinary session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers, held at the organization’s headquarters in Jeddah on Tuesday.

He said that the organization is following donor countries’ suspension of UNRWA contributions with great concern. An increase of funding to UNRWA will confirm the international community’s commitment to protecting the rights of Palestinian refugees, he added.

In his statement, the OIC chief said that the meeting was being held in light of Israel’s aggression on Gaza.

He described the Israeli campaign as “violating all international standards, laws, and norms,” adding that the war had led to “horrific massacres, war crimes, and crimes against humanity,” including the recent killing of Palestinian civilians waiting to receive food aid.

“These crimes have so far claimed the lives of more than 30,000 Palestinian civilians, wounded nearly 70,000, most of them women and children, and displaced nearly 2 million Palestinians inside the Gaza Strip,” he said.

Israel’s occupation involves a systematic policy based on “siege, starvation, torture, arrest, killing, displacement, and indiscriminate destruction of infrastructure, housing, mosques, churches, hospitals, schools, universities, UN institutions, historical buildings and economic facilities,” the OIC chief said.

The Israeli campaign must be placed in the context of genocide and an attempt to uproot the Palestinian people from their land, he added.

Taha thanked participants, and praised the OIC member states that called for the meeting following the extraordinary Arab Islamic Summit hosted by Saudi Arabia in November 2023.

The Arab and Islamic ministerial contact group that was created at the 2023 summit has been successful in its efforts, Taha said. The council has influenced prominent countries, especially UN Security Council member states and international organizations.

A resolution passed at the November summit also urged the creation of a media monitoring unit, which Taha said had been activated. The OIC has also begun coordination with member states to activate a legal observatory that was established by resolution at the Saudi summit.

The OIC, along with 25 member states, submitted written information to the International Court of Justice and took part in the oral arguments that took place in February this year regarding the legal consequences of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land since 1967 and violation of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, Taha said.

The Council of Foreign Ministers session also saw speeches from Mohamed Marzouk, minister of foreign affairs of Mauritania; Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Saudi minister of foreign affairs, and Riyad Al-Maliki, minister of foreign affairs of Palestine.

In his speech, Prince Faisal said: “Our meeting today underscores the necessity of calling upon the international community and the Security Council to stop the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people, ensuring the protection of civilians, lifting the siege on Gaza, and facilitating the permanent access of humanitarian and food aid.

“The Kingdom warns of the extremely dangerous repercussions of invading and targeting the city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip.

“An expansion of military operations toward Rafah will only bring more suffering to the unarmed civilians targeted in Gaza. Our countries categorically reject the forced displacement of the Palestinian people from their territories and emphasize the importance of allowing the immediate and safe return of the displaced.”

Through urgent diplomatic efforts, and as part of its role in the ministerial committees launched from the November summit, Saudi Arabia has called on the international community to take responsibility in stopping the Gaza war, Prince Faisal added.

“We have noticed a positive development in the positions of some countries and an understanding of the magnitude of the catastrophe,” he said.

“We have seen an increase in the number of countries calling for an immediate ceasefire, and we have heard from a number of countries about their readiness in principle to recognize the State of Palestine.

“In this regard, we send our message to those countries that the time has come to make their decision to recognize the State of Palestine and continue to pressure Israel to stop the war in Gaza and accept the two-state solution.”

He added: “Despite the worsening humanitarian tragedy, with over 30,000 deaths, more than 2 million people starving, a lack of security, and the destruction of basic services and infrastructure, the bitter truth is that the international community is still incapable of stopping the humanitarian massacre.

“In light of religious, international and moral values, we note that the brutal Israeli escalation continues against civilians in Gaza and the West Bank.

“The actions taken by some countries against settlers and extremists are positive, yet these measures remain insufficient if those responsible in the Israeli government who enable them are not held accountable, threatening a complete collapse of the credibility of international institutions and international humanitarian law.”

The Saudi foreign minister raised the issue of UNRWA funding, saying that Saudi Arabia has “confidence” in the ability of the UN secretary-general to conduct an investigation into the matter and disprove the allegations that led to the funding crisis.

He warned against attempts to undermine confidence and cancel the important role played by UNRWA.

“We reaffirm, clearly and emphatically, the necessity to end the suffering and provide hope to the Palestinian people, enabling them to live in safety and self-determination through a reliable and irreversible path to establishing a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, in accordance with the Arab Peace Initiative and related international resolutions,” Prince Faisal said.

Marzouk, the Mauritanian foreign minister, said: “The Gaza war represents a new chapter of genocidal wars and systematic starvation waged by the Israeli army, flagrantly violating ethical principles, international law and humanitarian international law.

“What’s worse is the suspicious international silence and the clear inability of international bodies to fulfill their responsibilities for which they were established.”

Al-Maliki, Palestine’s foreign minister, said: “Our people in the Gaza Strip are subjected to the most horrific forms of genocide — one of the most atrocious chapters being what is referred to as the Flour Massacre.

“This heinous massacre committed by the occupation forces on the morning of Thursday, Feb. 29, against Palestinian civilians waiting for the arrival of aid trucks in Gaza and its north, left dozens of martyrs, 124 martyrs, and more than 800 wounded.

“It was an integral part of the genocidal war committed by the fascist Israeli government, reaffirming its policy of forcibly displacing our people and proving once again to the international community and the countries supporting Israel that there is no alternative to an immediate ceasefire as the only way to protect civilians and provide them relief.”

He added: “I extend my thanks and appreciation to all member states who convened for this extraordinary meeting, specifically mentioning the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Islamic Republic of Iran, in addition to the State of Palestine and all participating member states, for their understanding of the real risks threatening the Palestinian cause and the unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe and genocide faced by Palestinians in Gaza.”

Source: arabnews.com

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Saudi FM warns Israel against offensive in Rafah during OIC meeting

March 06, 2024

JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan on Tuesday said any potential Israeli military actions in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip would have dangerous repercussions, a foreign ministry statement said.

Speaking during an extraordinary session of the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) held in Jeddah, Prince Faisal also reiterated the Kingdom’s opposition to the displacement of Palestinians from the territory.

The extraordinary session was held to discuss the ongoing war in Gaza between Hamas and Israel which began in October.

More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel’s assault, launched after Hamas-led attacks that killed 1,200 people on Oct. 7.

Citing growing global outcry, the foreign minister said an increasing number of countries were now pushing for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and support for an independent Palestinian state was growing.

“We have noticed a positive development in the positions of some countries and an understanding of the magnitude of the disaster. We have also seen an increase in the number of countries calling for an immediate ceasefire. Additionally, we have heard from several countries about their willingness in principle to recognize the State of Palestine,” the minister said.

The establishment of a Palestinian state has been the long held position of many Arab and Muslim-majority states in line with the Arab Peace Initiative. This state would be on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Prince Faisal said the creation of a state for Palestinians would enable them to secure their rights, live in safety and determine their destiny.

The Saudi diplomat also stressed support for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, and warned against attempts to dissolve the agency, adding that doing so would further exacerbate the suffering of civilians in Gaza.

“The Kingdom will continue its support for ... UNRWA and urges all supporters to fulfill their supportive role in humanitarian missions towards Palestinian refugees inside the besieged Gaza Strip,” the minister said.

He urged countries that had suspended funding to the agency to u-turn on their decision.

A number of countries pulled financial support for UNRWA after Israel alleged that its employees had links to Hamas and had been involved in the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel.

Source: arabnews.com

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Saudi cabinet urges global action for opening humanitarian corridors in Gaza

March 05, 2024

RIYADH: King Salman led the Council of Ministers session on Tuesday in Riyadh where the focus was on the latest developments in Gaza.

Minister of Information Salman bin Youssef Al-Dosari said the council was urging the international community to compel Israeli forces to adhere to humanitarian law and open safe corridors for aid delivery.

The cabinet meeting was also briefed on a phone call between the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the President of France Emmanuel Macron, focusing on enhancing bilateral cooperation.

The council then discussed the outcomes of the Kingdom's engagements in regional and international meetings, aiming to bolster cooperation with multilateral organizations and advance collective action.

The council also reviewed domestic issues related to recent economic, cultural, and social activities.

The council announced the upcoming celebration of "Flag Day" on March 11, emphasizing national pride and its significance to the country's past, present, and future.

The session also covered topics from the agenda, including input from the Shura Council, Council of Economic and Development Affairs, Council of Political and Security Affairs, General Committee of the Council of Ministers, and Council of Experts of the Council of Ministers.

Source: arabnews.com

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KSrelief delivers tonnes of dates to Yemen, Pakistan

March 06, 2024

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s aid agency KSrelief delivered several tonnes of dates this week to vulnerable families in Yemen and Pakistan.

There were 100 tonnes of dates given to the Yemeni High Relief Committee on Monday, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

Jamal Balfaqih, general coordinator of the committee, expressed “appreciation for the Kingdom’s support in humanitarian, relief and development fields.”

On Saturday, KSrelief delivered 100 tonnes to Islamabad.

“This noble initiative represented in the gift of dates, which reflects the strength of fraternal relations between the two countries,” said Brig. Gen. Obaid Ullah Anwar, director-general of the military wing of the Pakistani Council of Ministers.

Meanwhile, Abdullah bin Mohammed Al-Wadei, KSrelief’s health and environmental aid deputy director, met with Peter Hawkins, the UN Children’s Fund’s representative in Yemen.

During the meeting in Riyadh, they discussed ways to improve cooperation and coordination to support children in Yemen.

Source: arabnews.com

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‘Light Of Our Nights’ Show To Brighten Ramadan in Riyadh

March 05, 2024

RIYADH: The Ministry of Culture is preparing for this year’s Ramadan Season with a series of events to be held under the banner of “Anwarat Layaleena,” or “Light of Our Nights.”

The program will highlight the cultural heritage associated with the holy month, with a range of events to be held on Thumairi Street in Riyadh, the Al-Balad historic area of Jeddah and the Dammam waterfront.

Held in partnership with various government, private and nonprofit bodies, “Light of Our Nights” will open with Ramadan tables at Al-Zal market in Riyadh and Al-Balad market in Jeddah. Here visitors will be able to take part in a unique Iftar and Suhoor experience.

In Noor Riyadh, there is an exhibition designed to raise understanding and awareness of the value and spirituality of Ramadan, and an observatory where people can view the moon phases and crescent throughout the holy month.

Other events include traditional craft markets, educational activities related to the Holy Qur’an, cooking demonstrations with chefs preparing favorite Ramadan dishes and sweets from each region, and a children’s playground.

Source: arabnews.com

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Saudi FM meets with counterparts from Iran, Algeria, and Bangladesh on sidelines of OIC meeting on Gaza

March 05, 2024

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan met with the foreign ministers of Iran, Algeria, and Bangladesh separately on Tuesday, Saudi Press Agency reported.

The meetings were held on the sidelines of an Organization of Islamic Cooperation foreign ministers summit being held in Jeddah to discuss the “Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people.”

During a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Prince Faisal discussed ways of strengthening relations and cooperation between the Kingdom and Iran in various fields.

They also discussed developments in the Gaza Strip and its surroundings, and efforts made in this regard.

During a meeting with Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf, Prince Faisal discussed efforts made to achieve a ceasefire and bring humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Prince Faisal also received the Foreign Minister of Bangladesh Mohammed Hasan Mahmud, and the two officials discussed the situation in Gaza. 

Source: arabnews.com

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Australia

 

Asean, Australia call for ‘immediate and durable’ ceasefire in Gaza

06 Mar 2024

MELBOURNE, March 6 — South-east Asian and Australian leaders today called for a quick and lasting ceasefire in Gaza, describing the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory as “dire”.

“We urge for an immediate and durable humanitarian ceasefire,” said the leaders of 11 nations — including Muslim-majority Indonesia and Malaysia — after days of diplomatic wrangling over the text.

The deteriorating situation in the Gaza Strip was a topic of fierce debate as leaders from the 10-nation Asean bloc convened in Melbourne for a three-day summit with their Australian counterparts.

With the Muslim holy month of Ramadan around the corner, the United States and a growing list of nations have been stepping up efforts to secure some kind of pause in fighting.

“We condemn attacks against all civilians and civilian infrastructure, leading to further deterioration of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza including restricted access to food, water, and other basic needs,” Asean and Australia said.

“We call for rapid, safe, unimpeded and sustained humanitarian access to all those in need, including through increased capacity at border crossings, including by sea.”

The group also backed the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency, despite Australia pausing the group’s funding over allegations some of its staff were members of armed militant Islamist groups.

Singapore had baulked at a suggestion the statement condemn “the use of starvation” in the Gaza Strip, language that would have infuriated Israel.

Diplomats also argued over whether the statement should call for a total ceasefire — or a more temporary “humanitarian” pause.

South-east Asia is home to about 40 per cent of the world’s Muslim population, and Asean heavyweights Indonesia and Malaysia are staunch supporters of the Palestinian cause.

But other influential Asean nations such as Singapore have closer ties with Israel — and are less eager to stoke controversy. — AFP

Source: malaymail.com

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Southeast Asia

 

Jokowi affirms solidarity with Palestine at ASEAN-Australia summit

 March 6, 2024

Jakarta (ANTARA) - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has reaffirmed Indonesia's solidarity with Palestine and called for an end to the genocide in the Gaza Strip during the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit in Melbourne on March 4-6.

"The president reiterated the importance of the ceasefire and called for continued support to UNRWA (the UN agency for Palestinian refugees)," Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi stated in a press statement on Wednesday.

In the second session of the summit, themed "Our Vision for the Region and Addressing Shared Challenges," Jokowi also emphasized the importance of ASEAN and Australia continuing to respect international law.

"Rule-based order must be enforced without double standards, and no country should be above the law," Marsudi said, referring to Jokowi's statement.

Regarding the geopolitical situation, Jokowi encouraged ASEAN and Australia to continue to strengthen the spirit and paradigm of cooperation to prevent a decline in trust.

"Inclusive cooperation is very important to create strategic trust. The president also hoped that Australia could become a bridge for ASEAN cooperation with the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) and with IORA (Indian Ocean Rim Association)," Marsudi remarked.

The ASEAN-Australia Special Summit was held to commemorate 50 years of partnership between the two.

Australia is ASEAN's first dialogue partner and the first partner in the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

ASEAN, or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which was established on August 8, 1967, currently has 10 official member countries, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, Brunei Darussalam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Vietnam.

ASEAN, in principle, admitted Timor-Leste as its 11th member and allowed the country to attend all its meetings, including at the head of state and government level.

Source: antaranews.com

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IGP: Police finish taking Hadi’s statement over remark that led to Selangor Sultan’s rebuke

05 Mar 2024

KUALA LUMPUR, March 5 — Police confirmed they have recorded the statement of PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang today to assist the investigation regarding his statement on upholding Islam on February 20.

Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Razarudin Husain said the investigation paper on the Marang MP would be completed as soon as possible.

“After we have completed the investigation papers, we will send them to the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) tomorrow,” he said briefly through a voice message when contacted by Bernama via the WhatsApp today.

Earlier, two officers from Bukit Aman Classified Crime Investigation Unit (USJT) were present to record Abdul Hadi’s statement at 2.19pm at the party headquarters here.

A Bernama observation found that the two officers were seen leaving the building at 3.18pm after recording the Marang Member of Parliament’s conversation.

Meanwhile, PAS assistant secretary-general Mohd Syahir Che Sulaiman said Abdul Hadi had sent a letter to the Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, yesterday.

However, he did not elaborate on the content of the document.

“Let the content of the document be between him and Tuanku, we respect it,” he said when met by the media after the police completed taking Abdul Hadi’s statement, here today. — Bernama

Source: malaymail.com

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Singapore police probe posters put up in NTU toilet claiming university funding Israel in Gaza war

05 Mar 2024

SINGAPORE, March 5 — Police are investigating after receiving a report over posters that were put up in Nanyang Technological University’s (NTU) toilets claiming that the university is using school fees to fund Israel in the war in Gaza.

The top of the poster reads: “Applying to NTU? Your school fees is funding the genocide in Palestine. ”

The poster also details various ways NTU is allegedly funding Israel, such as its collaboration with French multinational company Thales, which has a joint research laboratory with the university and the French National Centre for Scientific Research.

Thales designs, develops and manufactures electrical systems as well as devices and equipment for the aerospace, defence, transportation and security sectors.

The poster alleges that Thales has a relationship with Israeli Aerospace Industries and Elbit, an Israel-based international military technology company and defence contractor.

The poster also claims that the weapons from these two companies have been used during the Israel-Gaza war.

“The posters were not authorised, and were removed by campus security,” said NTU in a press statement today.

NTU also said a police report has been made.

According to a post on the online forum Reddit, the posters were found in the toilets of NTU during the university’s Open House on Sunday.

In response to queries from TODAY, the police confirmed today that a report was lodged and that investigations are ongoing. — TODAY

Source: malaymail.com

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MAIWP channels RM19.03m in Ihya’ Ramadan donations to 871 mosques, surau

05-03- 2024

KUALA LUMPUR: The Federal Territories Islamic Religious Council (MAIWP) distributed RM19.03 million in zakat (tithe) funds as Ihya’ Ramadan donations to 871 mosques, surau Jumaat (surau holding Friday prayers) and surau in Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya this year.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Dr Mohd Na’im Mokhtar said RM30,000 was allocated to mosques, RM25,000 to surau Jumaat, and RM20,000 to regular surau, an increase from the previous year.

“This reflects MAIWP’s concern to ensure the welfare and meet the needs of the Muslim community in the Federal Territories, including through the provision of diverse facilities for mosques and surau.

“I hope that with the increase in aid this year and the contributions from kariah members, all mosques and suraus in the Federal Territories will be lively with the organisation of programmes and community events throughout Ramadan,“ he said.

He said this after officiating the Mosque and Surau Management Conference and presenting the Ihya’ Ramadan Aid and the Federal Territories’ zakat fitrah certification for 1445H/2024M here today.

Meanwhile, Mohd Na’im said MAIWP had channelled a one-off RM500 special aid to 32,250 Monthly Financial Assistance recipients in the Federal Territories, involving an allocation of RM16.125 million.

“The distribution of the aid starts today, March 5, and this one-off assistance is aimed at aiding this asnaf group in their preparations for Ramadan,” he said. -Bernama

Source: thesun.my

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South China Sea: Malaysia committed to peaceful dispute resolution, says Anwar

06 Mar 2024

MALAYSIA, as a claimant state in the South China Sea issue, is firmly committed to the peaceful resolution of disputes by the universally recognised principles of international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos).

Recognising the sensitivity and complexity of the issue, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said Malaysia firmly believes that all parties should exercise self-restraint in the conduct of activities and avoid actions that would further complicate the situation.

“We should continue to maintain the South China Sea as a sea of peace, stability and trade,” he said at the retreat session of the Asean-Australia Special Summit in Melbourne today.

Turning to Myanmar, Anwar said it is deeply concerning that the crisis is entering its fourth year with little signs of improvement.

He said Malaysia remains committed to the Asean Leaders’ Review and Decision on the Implementation of the Five-Point Consensus to facilitate the people of Myanmar in finding a peaceful and enduring resolution to the crisis in the country.

He said Malaysia will work closely with Laos and Indonesia through the troika mechanism to ensure continuity in efforts to resolve the Myanmar crisis.

Malaysia also appreciated Australia’s consistent support for Asean’s efforts and the Five-Point Consensus including the humanitarian assistance extended to the people of Myanmar, he said.

Reiterating that Asean and Australia share a vision for peace and stability in the region and beyond, Anwar said together, Asean and Australia could play a significant and contributing role through promoting dialogue and peaceful co-existence.

“Let us work together to innovate Asean-led mechanisms, pursue inclusive solutions, and advocate for sustainable peace. Together, we can shape a more harmonious, safer and better future for all,” he said, adding that Malaysia is committed to playing a constructive and meaningful role. – Bernama, March 6, 2024

Source: thevibes.com

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