“Only Those Who Say ‘Vande Mataram’ And ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ Have A Place In The Country”: Indian Union Minister
New Age Islam News Bureau
16 October 2023
Union
Minister Kailash Choudhary was speaking at a farmers meet organised by BJP.
(Photo: Kailash Choudhary/Facebook)
------
India
·
1998 Coimbatore
Serial Blasts: Opposition AIADMK Seeks Release Of 36 Muslim Prisoners On
Compassionate Grounds
·
UP Cop
Suspended For Sharing Post On Palestine
·
Maulvi Arrested
In Uttar Pradesh For Pro-Palestine Social Media Post
--------
North America
·
Biden Says
Hamas Must Be Eliminated, US Officials Warn of Escalation
·
US Arabs,
Muslims Facing Harassment Amid Israel's Gaza Onslaught
·
Joe Biden
terms Israeli plans of Gaza invasion 'mistake'
·
US sends
second aircraft carrier 'to deter hostile actions against Israel'
·
Rallying
For Gaza Puts US Muslims In A Tough Spot
·
Biden
phones Abbas, says Hamas not fighting for ‘Palestine cause’
·
US talking
to Qatar about release of Hamas hostages – FT
------
Mideast
·
Raeisi
strongly condemns silence of certain countries on Israel heinous crimes in Gaza
·
Gaza
Witnessing ‘Unprecedented Human Catastrophe’: UN Agency
·
Gaza:
Turkey Rejects Exile Of Palestinians, Stands With Egypt
·
UAE At
Forefront Of Helping Those In Need In Gaza: Chairman Of UAE Fatwa Council
·
Hamas Says
Has No Information About 'Gaza Truce'
·
Rafah
border crossing set to reopen as Israeli troops prepare Gaza assault
·
One
million Gazans flee as Israel readies for ground attack
---------
Southeast Asia
·
Palestinian-Israeli
Crisis: PM Anwar Says Military Forces Deployment Needs Consensus From
Neighbouring Countries
·
Anwar To
Bring Up Palestine Crisis With 'Friends' At Riyadh Summit
·
Close to
200 nabbed in anti-vice raids in Johor and Selangor
·
Police to
identify human trafficking victims in raid at four Bangladeshi-owned strip clubs
·
Japanese
citizens and foreign residents call for peace in Palestine
·
Intl. law
being skewed in favor of Israel, Ex-Malaysia FM suggests
--------
Africa
·
Horrific
Reports Of Rape, Sexual Violence Persist As Sudan War Goes On: UN Humanitarian
Chief
·
Hundreds Gather
In Tunis At Rally In Support Of Palestinian People
·
South
Africa recalls soldiers accused of sexual abuse in DRC
·
Morocco:
Tourists return amid restoration process
·
Nigerian
Students’ Association, NANS Vows To Relocate Secretariat To Troubled Zamfara,
·
Kidnap:
University warns off-campus students to relocate from outskirts
--------
South Asia
·
Chinese,
Palestinian Envoys To Bangladesh Meet, Discuss Ongoing Israel-Hamas War
·
UN
Security Council condemns attack on Imam Zaman Mosque in Baghlan
·
Herat Hit
By More Powerful Earthquakes This Morning
·
World
Reactions to Baghlan Bombing Continue
·
UAE to
Build a Hospital for Treatment of Herat Quake Survivors
·
Japan’s
Aid to Earthquake Victims Delivered to ARCS
·
One
arrested over killing of Rohingya leader Mohib Ullah
·
Repatriation
of Afghan Refugees to their homeland continuing on daily basis
--------
Arab World
·
Blinken
Says Meeting With Saudi Crown Prince Was 'Very Productive'
·
KSrelief
marks World Mental Health Day at Syrian refugee camp in Jordan
·
Saudi
deputy minister receives Iraqi ambassador to the Kingdom
·
Saudi
crown prince receives letter from prime minister of the UAE
-------
Europe
·
Hamas
Attack Ends Relations Between Netanyahu And Putin – WSJ
·
Secret KGB
documents reveal horror crimes of Ukrainian Nazi collaborators
·
EU reveals
position on Israel-Gaza war
·
UK FM
pledges support to Britons trapped in Gaza
·
Second
evacuation flight carrying Ukrainians takes off from Israel
·
Nearly 260
Ukrainians entrapped in Gaza Strip – Zelenskyy
·
Biden to
push Israel, Ukraine aid package over $2 billion
--------
Pakistan
·
Caretaker
PM Calls For Immediate Ceasefire, Lifting Of Blockade In Gaza
·
Jamaat
demonstrates in Karachi against Israeli aggression in Gaza
·
PTI leader
Murad Saeed escapes arrest in Peshawar
·
Cipher
case: IHC announces verdict on Imran’s plea against jail trial today
Compiled by
New Age Islam News Bureau
URL:
https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/vande-mataram-bharat-mata-jai-minister/d/130913
-----
“Only Those Who Say ‘Vande Mataram’ And
‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ Have A Place In The Country”: Indian Union Minister
Union
Minister Kailash Choudhary was speaking at a farmers meet organised by BJP.
(Photo: Kailash Choudhary/Facebook)
------
Press Trust of India
Hyderabad: Oct 15, 2023
Union Minister Kailash Choudhary on
Saturday asserted that those who want to live in India should say 'Bharat Mata
ki Jai'.
Choudhary, MoS (Agriculture), was
speaking at a farmers' convention organised by the BJP here.
Referring to the "language
used" by public representatives in Hyderabad, he said a "lesson
should be taught" to them in the time to come and that a government with
nationalistic thinking should be formed in the state.
Those who say in India that they will
not chant 'Bharat Mata ki Jai', to hell with them, he said. "Bharat me
rehna hai, tho 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' bolna hoga (If you want to live in India,
you have to say 'Bharat Mata ki Jai'), he insisted.
"Living in India, would you say
'Pakistan Zindabad'," he asked.
Only those who say 'Vande Mataram' and
'Bharat Mata ki Jai' have a place in the country, he went on.
"That's why I would like to say, if
there is any such person who does not say 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' and does not
have faith in Hindustan and Bharat and keeps faith in 'Pakistan Zindabad', he
should go to Pakistan. There is no need here," he said.
It is "necessary" for the
country to have a nationalist ideology in the region, he said, adding that the
country should be strengthened with collective efforts.
The farmers' convention was organised by
the BJP on the occasion of the union cabinet recently approving the terms of
reference of the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal that will govern the division
of the river water between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
Referring to the opposition alliance
naming itself INDIA, Choudhary alleged that "Congress people" first
"stole the name" of Mahatma Gandhi, which was preceded by them taking
the name of "Congress" which was originally formed to achieve freedom
for the country.
"They have given the name INDIA.
But, this work of stealing names, (they are) not doing from today. If they have
done the work of stealing name first, Congress people first stole the name of
Mahatma Gandhi ji. Today, it is Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi. By stealing Gandhi,
they want to become like Gandhiji. In the same way, they want to take the name
of India also," he claimed.
The Congress was formed to attain
Independence for the country from British rule and Mahatma Gandhi had said that
the Congress would come to an end forever after the freedom movement, he said.
"First, they stole the name of
Congress, then the name of Gandhi and today INDIA," he said.
The name INDIA was taken to
"hide" the "evil deeds" done during the UPA government but
it cannot be hidden as "their" history would vociferously talk about
their corruption, he claimed.
He hailed the approval of the terms of
reference of the Krishna tribunal saying that nothing is more important than
water to farmers.
Stating that PM Narendra Modi always
gives utmost importance to farmers, Choudhary highlighted the Centre's
pro-farmer measures, including the hike in agri budget compared to the previous
UPA regime, the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme, provision of nano urea fertiliser
and agri infrastructure fund.
Asserting that the fruits of development
are reaching common people and that rapid progress is witnessed in highways,
infrastructure and other sectors in the country under the Modi regime, he said
a nationalistic government should be formed in Telangana.
Source: indiatoday.in
Please click the following URL to read
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https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/bjp-leader-union-minister-kailash-choudhary-to-live-in-india-say-bharat-mata-ki-jai-vande-mataram-2449166-2023-10-15
-----
Make Aadhaar Mandatory For Garba And
Dandiya Events To Prevent ‘Love Jihad’, Says VHP
File image:
Participants dressed in traditional attire pose ahead of garba. | Amit
Dave/Reuter
------
Oct 16, 2023
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Sunday said
that Aadhaar card should be made mandatory for participation in Garba and
Dandiya events to prevent “love jihad”, The Indian Express reported.
“Love jihad” is a Hindutva conspiracy
theory that Muslim men lure Hindu women into romantic relationships in order to
convert them to Islam. The Union home ministry has told Parliament that Indian
law has no provision defining such a term.
But despite this, the Vishwa Hindu
Parishad’s General Secretary Surendra Jain on Sunday said that those attending Garba
and Dandiya events during the nine-day Hindu festival of Navratri should be
subjected to thorough scrutiny “to ascertain his/her Hindu identity”.
He asserted that ensuring the safety of
“our women” is necessary and those who do not have faith in the Hindu religion
must not be allowed to participate in the celebrations.
“Festival organisers should make Aadhaar
card compulsory to verify credentials of participants,” Jain added, The Indian
Express reported. “They should apply tilak [red vermillion] on the forehead and
tie kalva [sacred red thread] on the wrist.”
The outfit’s Gujarat spokesperson
Hitendrasinh Rajput demanded that participants be sprinkled with cow urine
before they are allowed entry into the venues to separate Hindus and
non-Hindus, The Economic Times reported.
On October 7, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad
urged the Gujarat government to ensure that even service providers at garba
events are not Muslims.
Such demands have been made since at
least 2015. In 2016, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and its youth wing, the Bajrang
Dal, had allegedly started sprinkling cow urine on garba participants in
Gujarat’ Gandhinagar despite many revellers objecting to it. They reportedly
stopped it after the police increased patrolling.
Source: scroll.in
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the full text of the original
https://scroll.in/latest/1057643/make-aadhaar-mandatory-for-garba-and-dandiya-events-to-prevent-love-jihad-says-vhp
--------
‘You Muslims Must Die!’: US Man
Motivated By Anti-Palestinian Rhetoric Stabs Boy 26 Times
Photo: Pars Today
----
16 October 2023
A 71-year-old white man in the US state
of Illinois motivated by anti-Palestinian rhetoric has stabbed a 6-year-old
Muslim boy 26 times and seriously injured his mother.
The incident happened on Sunday amid US
politicians and media’s ceaseless rhetoric against Muslims over Israel’s war
against the Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip.
Officials and Muslim rights activists
said the man was charged with hate crimes for stabbing the Palestinian boy to
death and wounding his mother, Reuters reported.
The Will County Sheriff's Office said in
a statement the boy was stabbed with a military-style knife with a 7-inch
(18-cm) serrated blade.
The 32-year-old woman was also stabbed
multiple times but is expected to survive the attack that occurred on Saturday
in Plainfield Township, about 40 miles (64 km) southwest of Chicago.
The man reportedly shouted, "You
Muslims must die!"
"Detectives were able to determine
that both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to
them being Muslim and the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and
the Israelis," the Will County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.
The suspect, Joseph Czuba, was charged
with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of hate
crime and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, the sheriff's office said.
When police arrived at the scene, they
said they found Czuba sitting on the ground outside the home with a cut to his
forehead. The victims were in a bedroom.
The Council on American-Islamic
Relations (CAIR) blamed the Islamophobic rhetoric by politicians and media for
the crime.
CAIR identified the boy as Wadea
Al-Fayoume and said the woman, Hanaan Shahin, was his mother.
“We are shocked and disturbed to learn
that a landlord in Chicago expressing anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian views
broke into a Muslim family's apartment and attacked them with a knife, injuring
the mother and killing her 6-year-old son, Wadea Al-Fayoume,” CAIR said on the
social media platform X.
"The Islamophobic rhetoric and
anti-Palestinian racism being spread by politicians, media outlets, and social
media platforms must stop," CAIR added.
FBI Director Christopher Wray on
Saturday warned the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference to
stay vigilant "in this heightened environment."
"There's no question we're seeing
an increase in reported threats, and we've got to be on the lookout, especially
for lone actors who may take inspiration from recent events to commit violence
of their own," Wray told the conference in San Diego, according to the FBI
website.
Pakistani American activist Dr. Shireen
Bangash wrote on X, “The hate-spitting US media is directly responsible for the
murder of this 6-year-old Muslim boy in Chicago.”
She added that she hopes the Editorial
Boards of CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, New York Times and BBC “must be very pleased
with their Islamophobic performances.”
Source: presstv.ir
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2023/10/16/712800/%E2%80%98You-Muslims-must-die-%E2%80%99--US-man-stabs-boy-26-times
---------
Carnage, Chaos In Gaza: Palestinian Death
Toll From Israeli War Surpasses 2,750
Palestinians
search for casualties under the rubble of a house destroyed in Israeli strikes
in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip October 16, 2023. REUTERS/Ibraheem
Abu Mustafa Acquire Licensing Rights
------
16 October 2023
At least 2,750 Palestinians have been
killed and 9,700 others wounded as the Israeli regime presses ahead with its
bombing campaign against residential neighborhoods in the besieged Gaza Strip.
In a statement on Sunday, the Gaza
health ministry said more than 750 children were among those killed in Israeli
aerial assaults on Gaza.
Ashraf al-Qudra, a spokesman of the
ministry, said the Israeli attacks “continue with all brutality” targeting residential
neighborhoods and destroying homes “on the heads of the residents.”
Gaza rescue operations “are facing great
difficulties” due to the massive destruction in residential neighborhoods and
the roads leading to hospitals, he added.
50 Gaza families wiped out
Palestinian Health Minister Mai Alkaila
said 50 families have been completely removed from the civil registry and more
than 470,000 people displaced as a result of the Israeli strikes on Gaza, home
to 2.2 million people.
She described the situation in the
besieged coastal sliver as “grave and catastrophic on all levels,” noting that
overcrowding, a lack of electricity and water shortages have led to the spread
of infectious diseases.
UNRWA raises concern about dire
situation in Gaza
Meanwhile, Philippe Lazzarini,
commissioner general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA),
highlighted the critical humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip under heavy
Israeli bombardment.
Gaza is rapidly running out of water and
electricity, and the population faces severe shortages of food and medicine, he
added.
“Gaza is being strangled and it seems
that the world right now has lost its humanity. If we look at the issue of
water — we all know water is life — Gaza is running out of water, and Gaza is running
out of life,” Lazzarini said.
He also called for the lifting of the
siege on the Palestinian territory and the establishment of a humanitarian
corridor to provide essential supplies such as fuel, water, food, and medicine.
Israel launched the war on Gaza on
October 7 after the Palestinian Hamas resistance group waged a surprise attack,
dubbed Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, against the occupying entity.
Hamas said that its operation came in
response to Israel’s violations at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East al-Quds
and growing Israeli settler violence.
Source: presstv.ir/
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https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2023/10/16/712810/Palestinian-death-toll-passes-2600-Israel-keeps-bombing-Gaza
--------
Malaysia: Father Who Threatened Son At
Knifepoint For Not Praying Gets 1 Year In Prison
Magistrate
Don Stiwin Malanjum imposed the sentence after receiving a guilty plea from the
accused, Ardi Aris, 32, under Section 506 of the Penal Code. - NSTP/Abdul Rahemang
Taiming
------
Abdul Rahemang Taiming
October 16, 2023
TAWAU: A man was sentenced to 12 months'
imprisonment by the magistrate's court here after pleading guilty to criminal
intimidation of his son in August.
Magistrate Don Stiwin Malanjum imposed
the sentence after receiving a guilty plea from the accused, Ardi Aris, 32,
under Section 506 of the Penal Code.
According to the charge, the accused was
alleged to have made a criminal threat with the intention of causing fear to
his son, Zack Azroy, 13, by brandishing a knife at their family home on Jalan
Tiku, near here, at 9am on Aug 4.
For this offence, he was charged under
Section 506 of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum penalty of seven years'
imprisonment or a fine or both. The prosecution was conducted by the Tawau
district police headquarters Crime Investigation Division officer, Assistant
Superintendent Nur Intan Jamrin, while the accused was not represented by a
lawyer.
Based on the facts of the case, the
incident occurred when the accused went to his former in-law's house and had
suddenly rushed into the kitchen, grabbed a knife and approached the victim
while brandishing and instructing him to pray.
The frightened victim complied with his
father's instructions before his aunt contacted the police.
The accused, who works at a car wash
facility and is divorced from his wife, had previously been referred to the
Mesra Bukit Padang Hospital in Kota Kinabalu due to suspected mental health
issues.
In his appeal, the accused requested the
court to consider a more lenient sentence, claiming he had repented and
regretted his actions.
The court subsequently ordered the
imprisonment sentence to take effect from the date of arrest, which was Aug 4,
2023.
Source: nst.com.my
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://www.nst.com.my/news/crime-courts/2023/10/967672/father-who-threatened-son-knifepoint-not-praying-gets-1-year-prison
--------
India
1998 Coimbatore serial blasts:
Opposition AIADMK seeks release of 36 Muslim prisoners on compassionate grounds
16.10.23
M.R. Venkatesh
Political parties in Tamil Nadu have
been sparring over a demand for the premature release of 36 Muslim prisoners
who have been in jail for over two decades in connection with the 1998
Coimbatore serial blasts that killed 58 people.
The Opposition AIADMK, which had taken a
beating at the hustings in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and the 2021 Assembly
elections after finding itself alienated from the minorities for its tie-up
with the BJP, has demanded that the Muslim prisoners be released on
compassionate grounds. The ruling DMK has questioned the timing of the demand,
coming as it does after the AIADMK split with the BJP.
AIADMK leader and former chief minister
Edappadi K. Palaniswami, whose party recently exited the NDA to lead a front of
its own in Tamil Nadu in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, made a forceful pitch during
the just-concluded Assembly session for the release of the prisoners, who have
been in jail for over 20-25 years. He said 16 of them were sentenced to life
imprisonment and the remaining handed varying terms.
The convicts, he said, were either
afflicted by old age or were suffering from health issues or had families that
had requested their release citing financial difficulties. The 1998 blasts in
Coimbatore had claimed 58 lives and injured over 200.
Palaniswami, speaking on a special call
attention motion in the House moved by the AIADMK and other parties including
the Congress, CPI, CPM, Manithaneya Makkal Katchi (MMK), a Muslim outfit led by
Prof. M.H. Jawaharullah, and the PMK on the issue of the premature release of
long-serving prisoners, said representatives of Muslim organisations had
informed him that a government order issued in November 2021 had impeded the
release of the Muslim prisoners.
Besides aligning with the BJP, the
AIADMK had enabled the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in the
Rajya Sabha in December 2019. The AIADMK also did not come out against the NRC
proposal mooted by the BJP.
Against this backdrop, the irony of
Palaniswami now passionately pleading for the release of Muslim prisoners on
humanitarian grounds was not lost on many during the heated House debate.
Refuting the impression “sought to be
created by some” that the DMK had taken no steps to grant remission to the 36
since the party returned to power in May 2021, chief minister M.K. Stalin asked
what triggered the AIADMK’s “sudden love” for the Muslim prisoners. The AIADMK
was in power for 10 years earlier, but did nothing on the issue, and more so
after they “blindly supported” the BJP on critical issues like the CAA-NRC,
Stalin pointed out.
Considering the plight of a number of
life convicts lodged in jails for over 20 years and beset with old age,
deteriorating physical and mental health and disabilities, the state government
had appointed a six-member panel headed by retired judge of Madras High Court,
Justice N. Authinathan, in December 2021 to review all such cases seeking
remission in line with Supreme Court rulings and existing laws, Stalin said.
The Authinathan panel, which submitted
its report to the state in October 2022, had recommended the premature release
of 264 life convicts in various jails of Tamil Nadu, Stalin said.
In August 2023, after considering the
panel’s recommendations, the government in the first phase decided to release
49 life convicts, 20 of whom are Muslim prisoners, coinciding with the 115th
birth anniversary of DMK founder-leader C.N. Annadurai on September 15, Stalin
said. However, the governor had not yet cleared the file and they would be
released once the approval comes, the chief minister said.
Source: telegraphindia.com
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https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/1998-coimbatore-serial-blasts-opposition-aiadmk-seeks-release-of-36-muslim-prisoners-on-compassionate-grounds/cid/1973596
--------
UP cop suspended for sharing post on
Palestine
October 16, 2023
A Uttar Pradesh Police constable has
been suspended and a departmental enquiry initiated against him for allegedly
sharing a post in support of Palestine amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict
on a social media platform, said senior officials.
The officials said the constable was
identified as Suhail Ansari, a Bareilly resident, was posted in Lakhimpur Kheri
district for the past few months.
Kheri DSP Sandeep Singh, who is posted
as circle officer (city) there, said an additional superintendent of police
rank officer was inquiring about the constable and his inclination as well as
Palestine supportive post on social media. –IANS
Source: muslimmirror.com
Please click the following URL to read
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https://muslimmirror.com/eng/up-cop-suspended-for-sharing-post-on-palestine/
-------
Maulvi arrested in Uttar Pradesh for
pro-Palestine social media post
October 16, 2023
Days after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister
Yogi Adityanath warned against ‘any activity against the central government’s
stand’ on the Israel-Palestine war, a post on social media purportedly supporting
Palestine has fueled ‘hostility.’ A Maulvi was arrested last week in Hamirpur
for allegedly ‘exaggerating,’ according to the Indian Express report. The
arrested Maulvi has been identified as Sohail Ansari, aged 23.
On Friday, October 13, Ansari, along with
another Maulvi Atif Chaudhary, were booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC)
sections 153A, which pertains to promoting enmity between two groups, and
505(2), which deals with inciting or promoting enmity, hatred, or ill will
between classes. Chaudhry is currently absconding, and a case has been
registered against him.
Meanwhile, a separate case was also
registered against a doctor in Bareilly for making objectionable remarks
against Muslims on WhatsApp in connection with the Israel-Palestine conflict.
As of now, the doctor, identified as Dr. Parminder Maheshwari, who works at a
private hospital in Bareilly, has not been arrested.
“We have arrested Ansari, and raids are
on to find other accused,” said a senior Hamirpur police officer.
According to the police, Maulvi Sohail
Ansari had posted on social media expressing his support for Palestine. In
another post, he had allegedly called people to gather at a mosque. The officer
noted, “The accused used social media, also made some comments to the media, which
are prohibited and may create law and order problems.”
In the case of Dr. Parminder Maheshwari,
he has been booked under Section 153A of the IPC, related to promoting enmity
between groups, and 295A, pertaining to intentional and malicious acts intended
to destroy one’s religion or religious beliefs.
Source: muslimmirror.com
Please click the following URL to read
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https://muslimmirror.com/eng/maulvi-arrested-in-uttar-pradesh-for-pro-palestine-social-media-post/
----------
North America
Biden Says Hamas Must Be Eliminated, US
Officials Warn of Escalation
October 16, 2023
(Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden
said on Sunday he believes the Hamas militant group must be eliminated but
there should be a path to a Palestinian state, after top U.S. officials warned
the war between Israel and Hamas could escalate.
Biden did not think American troops
would be necessary on the ground as Israel has one of the "finest fighting
forces," even as American warships headed to the area amid growing clashes
on Israel's northern border with Lebanon.
Israel unleashed a ferocious bombing
campaign over Gaza in retaliation for unprecedented attacks by Hamas eight days
ago that killed some 1,300 Israelis, mostly civilians.
When asked if he believes Hamas must be
eliminated entirely, Biden said "Yes, I do. But there needs to be a
Palestinian authority. There needs to be a path to a Palestinian state,"
he said during a CBS 60 Minutes interview broadcast on Sunday.
The U.S. President warned it would be a mistake
for Israel to occupy Gaza but that "taking out" Hezbollah and Hamas
was a "a necessary requirement." He said "It would be a mistake
to ... for Israel to occupy ... Gaza again."
Israel captured and occupied the West
Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war. It withdrew its
settlers and troops from Gaza in 2005, before Hamas' takeover of the Strip in
2007.
"There is a risk of an escalation
of this conflict, the opening of a second front in the north and, of course,
Iran's involvement," White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan
told CBS earlier in the day.
Gaza authorities say more than 2,670
people have been killed there, a quarter of them children. Casualties are
expected to rise as Israel prepares for a ground assault on the tiny, densely
populated enclave that could start within days.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin
announced deployment of a second aircraft carrier group late on Saturday,
calling it a sign of "our resolve to deter any state or non-state actor
seeking to escalate this war."
The aircraft carrier the Dwight
Eisenhower will join a small fleet including the massive Gerald R. Ford
aircraft carrier in the eastern Mediterranean.
"Iran is the elephant in the
room," a U.S. official briefed on the situation said about the increasing
military presence. "The carriers are accompanied by warships and attack
planes. Every effort is being made to stop this from becoming a regional
conflict."
Biden said his message to Iran is to not
escalate the conflict.
Source: tolonews.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://tolonews.com/world-185563
-------
US Arabs, Muslims facing harassment amid
Israel's Gaza onslaught
15 October, 2023
Arabs and Muslims in the US are facing a
major spike in harassment - including by the US government - in response to the
ongoing violence in Gaza and Israel.
Rights groups have reported calls about
FBI visits to mosques, detentions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
and visits to incarcerated Arab inmates.
This is in addition to individual
instances of harassment over the past week, including online threats, being
reprimanded at work or school for clothing, car decorations, and social media
posts; as well as physical violence for engaging in pro-Palestine
demonstrations, and in some cases for nothing more than appearing to be Arab.
Possibly more surprising is the
behaviour of some elected officials. On Thursday, Republican New York City
council member Inna Vernikov brought a gun to a pro-Palestinian demonstration.
She was arrested the next day for criminal possession of a firearm after being
photographed at the rally.
Many are comparing the recent attacks on
American Muslims and Arabs to the aftermath of 9/11, in which people from those
backgrounds, or even appeared to be, faced an uptick in harassment and
scrutiny.
"It's really created a culture of
fear in the community throughout the country," Chris Habiby, government
affairs and advocacy director for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination
Committee (ADC), told The New Arab.
"In some ways it's worse," he
said, referring the aftermath of 9/11, when politicians gave speeches urging
the public to respect different communities.
On Thursday, Abed Ayoub, executive
director of the ADC, reported on X: "We have received multiple calls today
regarding Palestinian nationals detained by ICE, and/or visited by the
FBI."
He continued, "The FBI has also
visited multiple mosques today, in different states, as well as Arab inmates.
This is a troubling trend."
With Hamas' surprise attack on Israel on
last Saturday -- the biggest attack on the country in 50 years -- it was to be
expected that tensions would boil over beyond the region. Extra police officers
have been deployed in major cities near mosques and synagogues in anticipation
of potential hate crimes in major cities.
However, with public sentiment
overwhelmingly supporting Israel, many Arabs and Muslims in the US are left
feeling vulnerable.
"The switch has flipped very
quickly," Edward Ahmed Mitchell, national deputy director of the Council
on American-Islamic Relations, told TNA. "In some ways, it looks like
we've gone back to the time when Trump was running for office."
Source: newarab.com
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Joe Biden terms Israeli plans of Gaza
invasion 'mistake'
October 16, 2023
As Israeli forces are preparing to
launch their ground invasion in the Gaza Strip, US President Joe Biden
cautioned Tel Aviv Sunday of any occupation of the enclave calling it a
"big mistake", ruling out Washington joining the fray.
Speaking in an interview with CBS News
program 60 Minutes, aired Sunday, Joe Biden responded to a question of extending
support to the invasion. He said: "I think it'd be a big mistake."
The brutal Israeli assault on the
innocent Palestinians commenced eight days ago after Hamas fighters responded
with heavy force to the Zionist decades-long oppression of civilians.
The brutality of the Zionists continued
as at least 2,670 people have been martyred by an indiscriminate bombing and
shelling in Gaza leaving over 9,200 Palestinians injured, the Ministry of
Health said.
Meanwhile, in the Gaza Strip, occupied
Israeli forces were preparing Sunday for a ground assault as the country vowed
to annihilate Hamas.
"Hamas don't represent all the
Palestinian people," the 80-year-old President continued, adding that
"but invading and taking out the extremists is a necessary requirement."
Israel has faced grave warnings about
the implications of putting boots on the ground in Gaza, with aid groups
warning of a humanitarian disaster, fears of the conflict escalating, and the
challenges of separating militants from civilians in the impoverished, densely
occupied territory.
Israel first occupied Gaza during the
1967 Six-Day War, and it was only fully returned to Palestinians in 2005.
A year later, Israel imposed an air,
land and sea blockade on the 140 square miles (362 square kilometres) strip of
land, which is also bordered by Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea.
In 2007 Israel tightened the blockade
after Hamas took control of Gaza from the secular Fatah movement of Palestinian
President Mahmud Abbas.
When asked if Hamas must be eliminated entirely,
he replied: "Yes I do."
"But there needs to be a
Palestinian authority. There needs to be a path to a Palestinian state,"
he continued, reiterating the long-standing US call for a two-state solution.
Upon being asked whether the US troops
would also join the Israeli war he stated: "I don't think that's
necessary," insisting that none will be sent to aid Ukraine as it holds
off a Russian invasion.
"Israel has one of the finest
fighting forces in the country. I guarantee we're gonna provide them everything
they need," the Democrat presidential forerunner said.
The United States has already deployed
two aircraft carriers to the eastern Mediterranean in a powerful show of
support for Israel.
Source: thenews.com.pk
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US sends second aircraft carrier 'to
deter hostile actions against Israel'
October 15, 2023
The United States is sending a second
aircraft carrier strike group to the eastern Mediterranean "to deter
hostile actions against Israel or any efforts toward widening this war
following Hamas's attack," Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said
Saturday.
The USS Eisenhower and its affiliated
warships will join another carrier group already deployed to the region in the
wake of the attack on Israel a week ago and Israel's ongoing response.
The deployment signals Washington's
"ironclad commitment to Israel's security and our resolve to deter any
state or non-state actor seeking to escalate this war," Austin said in a
statement.
A week of deadly Israeli salvos was
sparked by a Hamas raid which saw fighters break through the heavily fortified
border between the Gaza Strip and Israel and gun down, stab and burn to death
more than 1,300 people.
In Gaza, health officials said Israel's
response had killed more than 2,200 people. As on the Israeli side, most of
them were civilians.
Read also: Blinken tells Netanyahu in
Israel: US not going anywhere
The United States has sent munitions to
Israel and warned other countries not to escalate the conflict.
The same day as the announcement of the
second carrier deployment, President Joe Biden underscored US support for
efforts to protect civilians amid the Israeli siege and bombardment of Gaza in
a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"President Biden affirmed his
support for all efforts to protect civilians," the White House said in a
statement about the call, which did not specifically mention the enclave.
Biden also spoke Saturday with
Palestinian Authority leader Mahmud Abbas for the first time since hostilities
broke out, condemning "Hamas' brutal attack on Israel."
"Hamas does not stand for the
Palestinian people's right to dignity and self-determination," Biden told
Abbas, according to a White House statement about the conversation between the
two leaders.
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Rallying for Gaza puts US Muslims in a
tough spot
October 16, 2023
Anwar Iqbal
WASHINGTON: A weekend of protests
brought tens of thousands of people out on US streets, with the majority
demanding a halt to Israel’s military operation in Gaza.
The pro-Palestine protesters were mainly
Muslims getting restless as Israel plans to advance with a military offensive.
Some demonstrators also included Jews and Christians, albeit in small numbers.
Pro-Israel groups, including those
formed by Muslims, were also out in the streets, supporting the Israeli
offensive.
Almost daily protests have been held in
New York since Thursday as thousands of pro-Palestine demonstrators take to the
streets to denounce Israeli bombings in the Gaza Strip. Calling for an end to
Israeli occupation, protesters took up multiple blocks in Times Square and
other areas.
Pro-Palestine and pro-Israel protesters
face off in cities; FBI chief warns of domestic threat
In Washington, one group was hugely
outnumbered by pro-Palestine demonstrators — about 200 supporters of Israel
gathered outside Freedom Plaza near the White House, compared to an estimated
10,000 who marched around the White House supporting Palestinians.
Some protesters are also trying to dial
down the tensions. At the White House rally, some supporters of Palestine urged
Americans to “look at the wider issue” instead of focusing entirely on Hamas’
attacks.
“Not all of us hate Jews or Israelis,”
said M. Nabeel, a Palestinian. “But we too need a place to call home, a place
to live peacefully.”
In Los Angeles, thousands of
demonstrators carrying Palestinian flags and signs denouncing Israeli
apartheid were seen marching down Wilshire Boulevard on Saturday afternoon.
Stereotypes
Concerns about the fallout of the
ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict also caused Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a 2024
presidential front-runner, to demand the US government not to accept refugees
from Gaza as “they are all radicalised”.
“If you look at how they behave, not all
of them are Hamas, but they are all anti-semitic,” said Mr DeSantis. “None of
them believe in Israel’s right to exist,” he claimed.
One of Mr DeSantis’s 2024 rivals, former
Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson, concurred with him over not accepting
refugees from Gaza but warned against making generalisations about them. “It’s
dangerous when you categorise people like this.”
But the generalisation has started, or
at least that’s how a group of Pakistanis felt who gathered at a South Asian
restaurant in Northern Virginia after a pro-Palestinian rally in Washington.
“This week, at least a dozen passengers
asked me ’Why do you Muslims support terrorists attacking innocent citizens,”
said N. Khan, a cab driver in Washington.
“I told them those were Hamas fighters,
not ordinary Palestinians. I also told them all Muslims are not terrorists.”
FBI warning
The growing tensions forced FBI Director
Christopher A. Wray to warn Americans that he expects a spike in domestic
threats.
“In this heightened environment, there’s
no question we’re seeing an increase in reported threats, and we have to be on
the lookout, especially for lone actors who may take inspiration from recent
events.”
Fox News reported that Director Wray
also asked the public to continue sharing intelligence with them.
Source: dawn.com
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Biden phones Abbas, says Hamas not
fighting for ‘Palestine cause’
October 16, 2023
US President Joe Biden spoke with
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas over the phone on Sunday, emphasising that
Hamas is not fighting for the Palestine cause.
This conversation took place against the
backdrop of ongoing Israeli actions in Gaza, where the death toll from
indiscriminate bombing and shelling has surpassed 2,450, with over 9,200
Palestinians injured, as reported by the Ministry of Health.
Biden informed President Abbas that, in
collaboration with regional partners, they are actively working to contain the
unrest ignited by the Israel-Hamas conflict and to provide humanitarian aid to
Gaza.
Earlier on the same day, US Defence
Secretary Lloyd Austin announced that a second carrier strike group and air
force fighter jets have been deployed to the eastern Mediterranean Sea as a
demonstration of unwavering support for Israel, which is preparing for a ground
assault on Gaza.
Austin clarified that these deployments
symbolise the United States' commitment to Israel's security and are not
intended for direct involvement in Israeli operations or combat in Gaza. Their
primary goal is to deter any actions, whether from states or non-state actors,
that could further escalate the conflict.
These movements underscore the US
objective of deterring hostile actions against Israel and preventing any
potential widening of the conflict, especially following the Hamas attack on
Israel.
In response, Israeli forces have claimed
that Hezbollah, based on the Lebanese border, is escalating tensions in an
attempt to prevent retaliation in Gaza. They also reported that over 600,000
Gazans have relocated to the southern areas as evacuation efforts continue.
Furthermore, Israeli forces assert that
they have apprehended over 200 members of Hamas in the West Bank since October
7. The situation in the region remains complex and sensitive, with various
actors involved and dynamics at play.
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US talking to Qatar about release of
Hamas hostages – FT
15 Oct, 2023
Officials from the United States and
Qatar have engaged in dialogue aimed at securing the release of civilian
hostages held by the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, according to a
report by the Financial Times.
“There were positive meetings yesterday
and Hamas seems willing to release the civilian hostages,” the newspaper wrote
late on Saturday, citing comments from an anonymous source with knowledge of
the discussions. “But Hamas say they can’t do so while the bombing continues.”
The report adds that the FT’s source
said that Hamas “needs the Israelis to stop bombing Gaza for a short amount of
time in order to safely release the captives.”
The precise number of hostages being
held by Hamas following last Saturday’s attack in Israel remains unclear, but
reports have indicated that it may be as many as 150. The White House said in
recent days that a “very small” number of hostages are United States citizens.
The Biden administration has also indicated that 22 Americans have died in the
conflict.
Reports of a potential hostage release
scenario come amid a seven-country tour of the Middle East by US Secretary of
State Antony Blinken, in which he has been warning regional leaders that there
can be “no more business as usual” regarding relations with Hamas following
last Saturday’s attacks in the south of Israel.
Blinken’s tour comes as part of
Washington’s efforts to prevent the war between Israel and Palestinian
militants from worsening into a wider conflict and to seek the release of
Israeli and US hostages in Gaza, Reuters said.
Iran’s envoy to the United Nations
warned late on Saturday that “the situation could spiral out of control” unless
Israel’s “war crimes and genocide” were immediately stopped. Tehran backs Hamas
and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
As part of Blinken’s visit to the Middle
East, the top US diplomat held talks with Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin
Abdulrahman Al-Thani on Friday. Qatar is a regional ally of the United States,
and also hosts a Hamas political office.
In a statement to reporters, Blinken
said that every country “needs to condemn” Hamas following its attack on Israel
earlier this month that killed about 1,300 people. However, he did not directly
address a question from reporters about whether Washington would compel Qatar
to close the Hamas office in its capital, Doha.
Since last Saturday’s attack within its
borders, Israel has responded with an unprecedented bombardment of Gaza,
placing the enclave - which is home to about 2.3 million Palestinians - under
siege and destroying much of its infrastructure.
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Mideast
Raeisi strongly condemns silence of
certain countries on Israel heinous crimes in Gaza
16 October 2023
Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi says
Israel’s shameless move to force the people of Gaza to flee their homes runs
counter to all international laws and humanitarian principles.
Addressing a cabinet session on Sunday
evening, Raeisi strongly condemned the silence of certain countries and
international organizations in the face of Israel’s unprecedented and heinous
crimes against the oppressed and defenseless people of Palestine
Those who keep silent in the face of
Israel’s crimes must be held accountable for their actions and face the
judgment of history, he added.
He reiterated the Islamic Republic’s
unwavering and definite policy of supporting the people of Palestine.
The Iranian president warned that
wasting any second to stop Israel’s bombardment of residential areas in Gaza
and to help people access basic commodities would lead to harmful consequences.
He also called on all countries to
fulfill their responsibilities vis-à-vis the ongoing situation in Gaza, where
the Israeli occupying regime presses ahead with its brutal attacks against
civilians.
On October 7, the Palestinian resistance
movement Hamas launched Operation Al-Aqsa Storm deep into the territories
occupied by the Israeli regime. The operation involved large-scale air, land,
and sea strikes.
The group said the operation was a
reaction to the recurring desecration of the al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied al-Quds
as well as intensified Israeli atrocities against Palestinians in the occupied
West Bank.
Israel responded with intensive air
strikes on civilian targets in the Gaza Strip, killing at least 2,670
Palestinians in Gaza and wounding some 10,000 others, according to the
territory’s health ministry.
The regime has also intensified the
siege of Gaza, leaving the city, home to more than 2.3 million Palestinians,
without water, electricity, fuel and internet.
According to reports, Israel also
destroyed some 135,000 houses and residential units in Gaza since the beginning
of its savage attacks.
In a phone call with French President Emmanuel
Macron earlier on Sunday, Raeisi said Israel’s actions against Palestinians
echo the crimes perpetrated by the Nazis during the Second World War, warning
that the dimensions of the war will broaden if the Israeli regime persists with
its attacks.
“If the Zionist regime seeks to pay for
its defeat through the continuation of these crimes [against Palestinians], the
dimensions of the developments will expand,” the Iranian president said.
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---------
Gaza witnessing ‘unprecedented human
catastrophe’: UN agency
October 15, 2023
JERUSALEM: Israel’s strikes on the Gaza
Strip have led to an “unprecedented human catastrophe” in the Palestinian
territory, the UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees said on Sunday.
“Not one drop of water, not one grain of
wheat, not a liter of fuel has been allowed in the Gaza Strip for the last
eight days,” said Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general of UNRWA, told
journalists.
“Raise the alarm that as of today, my
UNRWA colleagues in Gaza can no longer provide humanitarian assistance as I
speak,” Lazzarini said.
“In fact, Gaza is being strangled and it
seems the war right now has lost its humanity,” he continued.
“If we look at the issue of water, we
all know water is life and Gaza is running out of water and Gaza is running out
of life.”
Israel’s Energy Minister Israel Katz
earlier said water supply were resuming to southern Gaza after talks between
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden.
“This will push the civilian population
to the southern (part of the) Strip,” Katz said in a statement, a week after
Israel had stopped supplying water to the entire territory as part of a
“complete siege” on the Palestinian enclave.
US National Security Adviser Jake
Sullivan said Israel told him it had turned the water supply back on in
southern Gaza.
The municipality of Beni Suheila in
southern Gaza confirmed that the water supply had resumed to the village.
At least 2,670 people have been killed
in the Gaza Strip in a blistering air assault launched by Israel last week
after Hamas carried out a bloody attack on Israel that left more than 1,400
people dead.
An estimated one million people have
been displaced in the first seven days of the conflict in Gaza, UNRWA said
earlier on Sunday.
“The number is likely to be higher as
people continue to leave their homes,” UNRWA director of communications
Juliette Touma said.
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Gaza: Turkey rejects exile of
Palestinians, stands with Egypt
15 October, 2023
Turkey stands with Egypt in rejecting
the exile of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip in the face of Israel's war on
Gaza, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said alongside his counterpart in
Cairo on Saturday.
Fidan, on his first trip as minister to
Egypt, said it is important to act to stop the conflict from spreading and to
re-start peace talks centred on achieving a two-state solution for Israelis and
Palestinians.
"We reject the policy of
Palestinians' being removed from their homes in Gaza and exiled into Egypt. We
are fully against it and stand with Egypt," Fidan said.
"The loss of civilian life must be
stopped regardless of which side they're on," he said. "We see that
some states try to justify Israel's attacks on Gaza as some sort of justifiable
act. We invite Israel to stick to international law and humanitarian
values."
Since Hamas fighters launched a surprise
attack on Israeli towns a week ago, Israel has brutally bombarded Gaza with air
strikes and given the entire population of the north until Saturday morning to
move south.
Turkey has long had contacts with Hamas
but has also worked to repair ties with Israel after years of acrimony.
Since war broke out, Ankara has launched
diplomacy seeking to mediate the conflict, sent aid for Palestinians and
slammed Israel's call for Gazans to move south as inhumane and a violation of
international law.
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UAE at forefront of helping those in
need in Gaza: Chairman of UAE Fatwa Council
Oct 16, 2023
Shaikh Abdullah Bin Bayya, Chairman of
the UAE's Fatwa Council, said that the "Tarahum — for Gaza” campaign, directed
by President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, is a testament to
the pioneering of the UAE leadership in providing relief aid to the needy in
general and the people of Palestine in particular
"The United Arab Emirates is at the
forefront of helping those in need, in general, and the people of Palestine, in
particular,” he added.
"The exceptional circumstances that
our brothers in Gaza are going through and the urgent need for aid and relief,
require everyone to help and provide them with humanitarian assistance in light
of these difficult conditions.
"Our tolerant Shariah encourages
helping the needy, and relieving the weak. Allah Almighty says, ”The example of
those who spend their wealth in the way of Allāh is like a seed [of grain] which
grows seven spikes; in each spike is a hundred grains. And Allāh multiplies
[His reward] for whom He wills. And Allāh is all-Encompassing and
Knowing." the scholar continued.
Shaikh Abdullah implored Allah to dispel
the gloom, bless the nation, and bring about security, prosperity, and peace.
Source: gulftoday.ae
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---------
Hamas says has no information about
'Gaza truce'
16 October 2023
The Palestinian resistance movement
Hamas says it has no information about a temporary ceasefire in the Gaza Strip
which is under heavy Israeli bombardment.
Hamas media office made the denial on
Monday after Reuters reported that the US, Israel and Egypt have agreed to a
truce in southern Gaza to begin at 9 a.m. local time (0600 GMT) to coincide
with the reopening of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.
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Rafah border crossing set to reopen as
Israeli troops prepare Gaza assault
October 16, 2023
CAIRO/WASHINGTON/GAZA: An
Egyptian-controlled border crossing into Gaza is expected to reopen amid
diplomatic efforts to get aid into the enclave that has been under intense
Israeli bombing since the rampage by the militant group Hamas killed 1,300
people.
Shocked by the assault on towns and
villages, Israel is carrying out the most intense bombardment Gaza has seen,
has imposed a strict blockade, and is preparing a ground invasion.
Hundreds of metric tons of aid from
several countries have been held up in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula for days pending
a deal for its safe delivery to Gaza and the evacuation of some foreign
passport holders through the Rafah crossing.
Volunteers wait next to a convoy of
trucks carrying humanitarian aid to Palestinians, as they wait for an agreement
on the Rafah border crossing to enter Gaza on Oct. 15, 2023. (Reuters)
“Rafah will be reopened. We’re putting
in place with the United Nations, with Egypt, with Israel, with others, a
mechanism by which to get the assistance in and to get it to people who need
it,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said after a meeting with Egyptian
President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on Sunday.
Blinken did not give a specific time for
the crossing to reopen. Veteran US diplomat David Satterfield, appointed on
Sunday as a special envoy for Middle East humanitarian issues, will arrive in
Egypt on Monday to work out the details, Blinken said.
US President Joe Biden has urged Israel
to follow the laws of war in its response to the Hamas attacks, and on Sunday
said in a post on social media that “the overwhelming majority of Palestinians
had nothing to do with Hamas’ appalling attacks and are suffering as a result
of them.”
In a CBS 60 Minutes interview aired on
Sunday, Biden also said Israel needed to eliminate Hamas, but warned that it
would be a mistake for Israel to occupy Gaza.
NBC News, citing a Palestinian official,
reported the Rafah border crossing would open at 9 a.m. on Monday. Citing a
security source, ABC News reported the crossing would open for a few hours on
Monday, without providing details.
Israel appeared to deny on Monday that a
truce was under way in southern Gaza, half an hour after security sources in
neighboring Egypt said such a deal was due to be implemented.
“There is currently no truce and
humanitarian aid in Gaza in exchange for getting foreigners out,” a statement
from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said.
Israel has urged exhausted Gazans to
evacuate south, which hundreds of thousands have already done in the besieged
enclave that is home to more than 2 million people. Hamas, which runs Gaza, has
told people to ignore Israel’s message.
“Hamas has always said that there is no
surrender, there is only freedom and justice,” the militant group said in a
statement on Sunday.
Palestinians in Gaza said Israel’s
bombing campaign overnight was the heaviest since it launched its retaliatory
attacks last week. Bombardment was especially heavy in Gaza City, with
airstrikes hitting the areas around two of the city’s main hospitals, they said.
Reserves of fuel at all hospitals across
the Gaza Strip are expected to last only around 24 more hours, putting
thousands of patients at risk, the United Nations humanitarian office (OCHA)
said on Monday. Authorities in Gaza said at least 2,670 people had so far been
killed by Israel’s retaliatory strikes, a quarter of them children, and nearly
10,000 wounded. Another 1,000 people were missing and believed to be under
rubble.
US government officials say they are
mobilizing to help alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, anticipating a
brutal ground offensive.
Washington is also focused on avoiding a
spillover of the conflict, especially with clashes with Lebanon escalating on
Israel’s border.
Blinken said leaders in Arab states he
visited across the region in recent days were determined to stop the war from
spreading. Blinken is also seeking to secure the release of 155 hostages,
including Americans, Israel says were taken by Hamas back into Gaza.
Iran, which backs both Hamas and
Hezbollah, warned Israel of escalation if it kept attacking Palestinians,
adding that it could not simply say an observer.
An Israeli blockade has prevented fuel,
food and water from entering Gaza, although Netanyahu had agreed with Biden to
resume the water supply to parts of southern Gaza, a minister said on Sunday.
The Israeli military said some 600,000
Gazans had left the northern half of the territory, which includes Gaza City’s
more than 1 million residents.
Some Palestinians who went south said
they were heading back north because they were attacked wherever they went.
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One million Gazans flee as Israel
readies for ground attack
October 16, 2023
GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories:
More than one million people have fled their homes in Gaza in scenes of chaos
and despair as Israel bombarded the Hamas-ruled territory and continued massing
troops Monday in preparation for a full-blown ground invasion.
Israel declared war on the Islamist
group a day after waves of its fighters broke through the heavily fortified
border on October 7, shooting, stabbing and burning to death more than 1,400
people, most of them civilians.
After it suffered the deadliest attack
in its history, Israel unleashed a relentless bombing campaign of the Gaza
Strip that has flattened neighborhoods and killed at least 2,670 people, mainly
civilians.
Following an Israeli order to move to
the south of the Gaza Strip, people have fled their homes in the north of the
enclave to seek shelter wherever they can, including on the streets and in
UN-run schools.
Palestinians carrying whatever
belongings they can, in bags and suitcases, or packed onto three-wheeled motorbikes,
battered cars, vans and even donkey carts have become a common sight.
“No electricity, no water, no Internet.
I feel like I’m losing my humanity,” said Mona Abdel Hamid, 55, who fled Gaza
City to Rafah in the south of the enclave, and is having to stay with
strangers.
US President Joe Biden said in an
interview with the CBS news program 60 Minutes that while invading and “taking
out the extremists” was needed, any move by Israel to occupy Gaza would be a
“big mistake.”
Israel has massed forces outside the
long-blockaded enclave of 2.4 million in preparation for what the army has said
would be a land, air and sea attack involving a “significant ground operation.”
“We are at the beginning of intense or
enhanced military operations in Gaza City,” spokesman for the Israeli Defense
Forces (IDF) Jonathan Conricus said.
“It would be unsafe for civilians to
stay there,” he added.
Hamas backer Iran and Lebanon’s
Hezbollah, which is also supported by Tehran, have warned that an invasion of
Gaza would be met with a response.
“No one can guarantee the control of the
situation and the non-expansion of the conflicts” if Israel sends its soldiers
into Gaza, said Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.
Fire along the Israeli-Lebanese border
has intensified in the last week, prompting Israel to shutter the area to
civilians.
On Sunday, a rocket hit the UN
peacekeeping base in southern Lebanon, while Hezbollah attacks killed one
person in Israel, the Israeli military said.
More than 10 people have been killed in
Lebanon and at least two in Israel in the past week.
Among those killed in Lebanon was a
Reuters journalist, Issam Abdallah.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was
due back in Israel on Monday after a crisis tour of Middle Eastern countries in
a frantic attempt to avert a wider crisis in the volatile region.
But as Israel seeks to avenge the brutal
attack, that also saw Hamas militants take scores of hostages including young
children, the Arab League and African Union have warned an invasion could lead
to “a genocide of unprecedented proportions.”
UN chief Antonio Guterres has warned
that the entire region was “on the verge of the abyss.”
Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant
said his country had “no interest in a war in the north, we don’t want to escalate
the situation.”
The United States, which has given
unequivocal backing to Israel, has sent two aircraft carriers to the eastern
Mediterranean as a deterrent.
The White House has voiced fears at the
prospect of Iran becoming “directly engaged,” after Tehran praised the Hamas
attack but insisted it was not involved.
But asked in the 60 Minutes interview
whether US troops might join the war, Biden said “I don’t think that’s
necessary.”
“Israel has one of the finest fighting
forces in the country. I guarantee we’re gonna provide them everything they
need,” he said.
The United States has also appealed to
China to use its influence in the region to ease tensions.
On Sunday Foreign Minister Wang Yi said
Israel’s response had “gone beyond the scope of self-defense,” and demanded
that it “cease its collective punishment of the people of Gaza.”
Massing thousands of troops and heavy
weaponry in the desert south of the country, the Israeli military has said it
is awaiting the “political” green light to go into northern Gaza.
The army has told 1.1 million
Palestinians in the north of the Gaza Strip to head to the south of the
enclave.
But Israeli air strikes were continuing
in the south, including in Khan Yunis and Rafah, where one resident said a
doctor’s house was targeted.
“All the family was wiped out,” said
Khamis Abu Hilal.
The UN said Monday that 47 entire
families, amounting to around 500 people, have been wiped out in Israel’s
bombing campaign.
Foreign governments and aid agencies,
including the UN and Red Cross, have repeatedly criticized Israel’s evacuation
order.
The UN agency supporting Palestinian
refugees said Sunday that some one million Palestinians had already been
displaced in the first week of the conflict — but the number was likely to be
higher.
Lynn Hastings, the UN humanitarian
coordinator for the Palestinian territories, decried that Israel was connecting
humanitarian aid into Gaza with the release of scores of hostages kidnapped
during the Hamas attack.
“Neither should be conditional,” she
insisted in a video posted by the UN.
“They have said they want to destroy
Hamas, but their current trajectory is going to destroy Gaza.”
In Gaza, hospitals are becoming
overwhelmed with increasing numbers of dead and injured, with officials saying
Sunday that some 9,600 people have been wounded.
Israeli energy minister Israel Katz on
Sunday said water supplies to southern Gaza had been switched back on.
But power outages threaten to cripple
life-support systems, from sea water desalination plants to food refrigeration
and hospital incubators.
Even everyday functions — from going to
the toilet, showering and washing clothes — are almost impossible, locals said.
Gazans are effectively trapped, with
Israeli-controlled crossings closed and Egypt also having shut the Rafah border
in the south.
Blinken said he was confident the
crossing “will be open” for aid into the strip, amid reports that Egypt was
blocking the passage of Gazans with foreign passports until relief supplies are
allowed in.
He categorically rejected the idea
floated of expelling Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.
The mood in Israel has swung between
collective grief, fury and a strong desire to punish Hamas, which Netanyahu has
likened to the Daesh group. It is proscribed as a terrorist group by several
Western governments, including the United States.
There are deep fears about the safety of
155 hostages that Hamas took into the Gaza Strip during its attack.
“We must bring them back home alive,”
said a tearful Yrat Zailer, the aunt of children aged nine months and four
years whom Hamas abducted along with their mother.
Source: arabnews.com
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Southeast Asia
Palestinian-Israeli crisis: PM Anwar
says military forces deployment needs consensus from neighbouring countries
16 Oct 2023
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 16 — Prime Minister
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today explained that the deployment of Malaysian
military forces to Palestine, including for peacekeeping or humanitarian
missions, can only be done after achieving a consensus from the neighbouring
countries.
In a briefing on the latest development
on the Palestinian-Israeli crisis at the Dewan Rakyat today, Anwar said without
the consensus, aircraft carrying Malaysian peacekeepers or humanitarian
assistance will not be allowed to land.
“Certain parties in Malaysia claim that
we refuse to send our military forces. Our military leaders have also asked me
to explain that it is not fair for any quarters to touch on this matter.
“This is not a simple decision to make.
So, I hope that there will be better understanding, don’t confuse the people,”
he said.
The Prime Minister also called on all
Malaysians and Muslim ummah to come together to pray for the safety of all
Palestinians who continue being oppressed by the Israeli regime. — Bernama
Source: malaymail.com
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Anwar to bring up Palestine crisis with
'friends' at Riyadh summit
16 Oct 2023
KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri
Anwar Ibrahim will meet the country's friends on his upcoming visit to Saudi
Arabia to discuss the need for meetings with other world leaders over the
Israel-Palestine conflict.
Anwar will leave for Riyadh on Thursday
(Oct 19) to attend the Asean and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit.
“I will discuss with friends of ours
such as the UAE, Qatar, Egypt and Turkey if there is a need to hold meetings
with other world leaders (on the conflict).
"Nevertheless, something must be
done immediately,” he said during a special explanation on the crisis in the
Dewan Rakyat on Monday (Oct 16).
He slammed western countries for their
hypocrisy by taking a tough stance in the Russian-Ukraine crisis but not doing
the same with the Palestine-Israel conflict which has enabled “continuous
cruelty”.
“In every meeting, they (western
countries) want to know if Malaysia will condemn Hamas,” he said.
Anwar said he has stated that Malaysia
has long-standing ties with Hamas.
ALSO READ: Tengku Zafrul: Malaysia
monitoring Middle East conflict, little impact on trade for now
“Therefore we don’t agree with (western
countries) as Hamas won the elections. The people of Gaza chose them to lead,”
he said.
Anwar also announced RM100mil aid for
Palestine.
He said Malaysia also wanted Israel to
lift its blockade of Gaza to enable food and medical aid to be sent.
“Humanitarian aid must be expedited,” he
added.
Anwar said Foreign Minister Datuk Seri
Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir has been given the mandate to make decisions on
humanitarian aid and any collective action with neighbouring countries.
“We were asked if we agree with the
actions by any parties to hurt women and children. Our stance is clear:
regardless of who it is, we do not agree with any action that inflicts (hurt)
on the innocent,” he said.
“If there is no firm action, this will
turn into genocide.
“In the next few days, if the world is
unable to (stop the Israeli attacks), it is akin to allowing the mass killing
of Palestinians and the people of Gaza,” he said, adding that Malaysia and its
partners will do what is necessary.
On criticisms that Malaysia had not
deployed military forces, Anwar said there were certain intricacies involved.
“It is not an easy matter to deploy
military forces or peacekeepers, or (establish a) humanitarian corridor.
"This must be agreed to by
neighbouring countries. Otherwise our planes cannot land.
"I ask for understanding on the
matter and to not confuse the people,” he added.
The Asean GCC summit will begin in the
Saudi capital on Friday (Oct 20).
Source: thestar.com.my
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Close to 200 nabbed in anti-vice raids
in Johor and Selangor
16 Oct 2023
FARIK ZOLKEPLI
KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 197 people,
including 155 foreign women and six foreign transvestites working as guest
relations officers (GROs), have been detained in raids on two entertainment
outlets in Johor and Selangor.
The raids were conducted by Bukit Aman
CID's Gambling, Vice and Secret Societies Prevention Division (D7).
Bukit Aman CID deputy director
(Investigation/Legislation) Deputy Comm Datuk Rusdi Mohd Isa said the first
raid was conducted at a club in Taman Tampoi Indah, Johor Baru at about 12.45am
on Thursday (Oct 12).
"We detained 99 individuals, GROs
comprising 82 Thai women, two female Laotian nationals, a Vietnamese and six
Thai transvestites.
"We also detained five Bangladeshi
men and three local men, one a manager and the rest waiters," he told a
press conference at Bukit Aman on Monday (Oct 16).
Checks were also performed on 69
customers, including 48 local men, on the premises.
"The club was on the fourth floor
of a shophouse and operated from 8pm to 4am daily.
"It also provided live band
performances and had two karaoke rooms priced at RM3,000 per room," he
added.
The club also sold floral necklaces for
between RM100 and RM30,000 to secure the services of the GROs, he said.
"The GROs did not have valid work
permits," he added.
In the second raid, D7 officers and
personnel raided a club in Taman Perindustrian Puchong at about 11.45pm on
Saturday (Oct 14) and detained 98 people.
"Among them were 73 GROs comprising
63 Thai women, six Vietnamese women, one Laotian woman and three Thai
men," he added.
DCP Rusdi said the club offered karaoke
rooms for rent at between RM800 and RM2,000 depending on the size.
"The services of the GROs cost
RM100 an hour while tips can be bought in the form of floral necklaces priced
between RM50 and RM500.
"Direct tips could also be given to
the GROs if a customer is satisfied with their services.
"The outlet also sold beer buckets
priced at RM150 each," he said.
A total of 15 customers were also
detained after testing positive for drugs, he added.
"We also detained two other local
men who were bouncers for the club."
Source: thestar.com.my
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Police to identify human trafficking
victims in raid at four Bangladeshi-owned strip clubs
Shahrin Aizat Noorshahrizam
October 16, 2023
KUALA LUMPUR: The Criminal Investigation
Department (CID) said that it is currently identifying human trafficking
victims after a raid at four Bangladeshi-owned strip clubs at Kompleks Wilayah,
Jalan Dang Wangi here.
The department's deputy director, Datuk
Rusdi Mohd Isa said four entertainment centres, owned by four foreign
nationals, are suspected of featuring exotic dance performances by foreign
female dancers, primarily for male patrons who are predominantly Bangladeshi
and Pakistani.
"The primary objective of this
operation is to identify potential human trafficking victims by following the
National Guideline on Human Trafficking Indicators (NGHTI)," he said in a
press conference today.
Rusdi said the raid was carried out at
2.50am by the Anti-Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Division (Atipsom),
D3 unit of CID at Bukit Aman, following information about entertainment
activities in the complex that had been in operation between three months and a
year ago.
He also said the premises, believed to
have been illegally operating their entertainment centre from 7pm to 7am, are
also suspected to have a concept of "spraying money" on those foreign
female dancers on stage.
"If they are offered a higher
payment, these foreign women are willing to strip and entertain the
money-givers," he said.
Rusdi said two Bangladeshi entertainment
centre managers and one employee from the same country were apprehended and are
under investigation under Section 55B of the Immigration Act, Section 6(1)(c)
of the same act, and Section 12(1)(F) of the Passport Act.
Furthermore, 33 Bangladeshi men and one
Pakistani man, who were patrons of the entertainment premises in question, were
detained and are being investigated under Section 6(1)(c) of the Immigration
Act.
Source: nst.com.my
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Japanese citizens and foreign residents
call for peace in Palestine
October 15, 2023
TOKYO: Several hundred Japanese and
foreign residents gathered in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo on Sunday, calling
for peace in the Middle East as Israel prepares to move on Gaza in its war
against Hamas.
The demonstrators expressed concern for
the civilian population of Gaza after Israel warned people to move from
northern Gaza to the south. Protesters raised their voices to denounce Israel’s
move to cut electricity, water and food in the Palestinian territory.
Shigenobu Mei, an activist for
Palestinian rights, told participants that 300 Palestinians had been killed on
Saturday, bringing the total to 2,500.
One woman, who said she was from “the
West,” said the “double standards” were upsetting: “I see Israeli flags next to
Ukrainian flags and my heart breaks when I see that. The double standards that
are hitting the eyes and people don’t see that, Westerners don’t see that. So,
I ask all Westerners to finally open their eyes and to be more objective to
what is happening.”
A Palestinian resident in Japan from the
Aifa region told Arab News Japan that she had a friend who is currently in
Gaza, but whom she can no longer contact due to power cuts.
She said she regretted the fact that the
situation so badly affected the civilian population. She asked the Japanese
media for better coverage of the problem and said that the Palestinian problem
was not only a Middle Eastern problem but an international problem that could
affect the West.
An Egyptian couple who work in Japan
hoped that the Japanese government would act for the Palestinians who are
deprived of basic living necessities, saying Israel had been committing crimes
against humanity.
Source: arabnews.com
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Intl. law being skewed in favor of
Israel, Ex-Malaysia FM suggests
15 October 2023
Malaysia's former foreign minister has
said the international law was being applied unequally when it comes to
treating the Israel regime's ongoing war crimes against the Palestinians in the
Gaza Strip.
"It is the hypocrisy of the
international order and the international system to apply the international law
on an unequal basis," Syed Hamid Albar told Press TV on Friday.
"If it is done by the Israelis it
is alright. Israelis are allowed to murder, Israelis are allowed to commit
killings...on the basis that 'they are defending themselves,'" he added.
"Even if you try to be fair and
rational...if you want to take an action against your enemy, it must be proportionate
to the damage that the enemy has caused [you]," Albar noted.
"But in this particular case, there
is no similarity," he said, adding, "Israel is above the law."
The comments came after the Israeli
regime called up an unprecedented 300,000 reservists, declaring a
"long" war on Gaza in response to Operation al-Aqsa Storm. The
operation was launched by the Gaza-based Palestinian resistance movements last
Saturday in response to the occupying regime's decades-long campaign of
bloodshed and destruction against Palestinians.
As many as 2,670 people have been so far
killed and nearly 10,000 others injured since the regime launched its bloody
aggression against the coastal territory.
Israel's military campaign has seen the
regime leveling entire districts and using banned white phosphorous munitions
against densely-populated neighborhoods of Gaza.
The revelation comes as entire
neighborhoods in Gaza have been destroyed by the incessant Israeli bombing.
The regime is simultaneously imposing an
all-out siege on the Palestinian territory, choking up the flow of foodstuff,
medicines, and fuel, while disrupting Gaza's supply of water and electricity.
The former Malaysian top diplomat,
meanwhile, condemned the Israeli regime for "committing state
terrorism," saying, considering the enormity of the regime's atrocities in
Gaza, "It is a very big joke when you talk about 'the right to
self-defense.'"
Source: presstv.ir
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Africa
Horrific reports of rape, sexual
violence persist as Sudan war goes on: UN humanitarian chief
October 16, 2023
CAIRO: Six months of war between Sudan’s
military and a powerful paramilitary group has killed up to 9,000 people and
created “one of the worst humanitarian nightmares in recent history,” the
United Nations humanitarian chief said Sunday.
Sudan has been engulfed in chaos since
mid-April, when simmering tensions between military chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah
Burhan and the commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, Gen. Mohamed
Hamdan Dagalo, exploded into open warfare.
“For six months, civilians ... have
known no respite from bloodshed and terror,” UN Undersecretary-General Martin
Griffiths said in a statement marking the six-month anniversary of the war.
“Horrific reports of rape and sexual violence continue to emerge.”
The fighting initially centered in
Khartoum, but quickly spread to other areas across the east African nation,
including the already conflict-wrecked western Darfur region.
Griffiths said the fighting reportedly
killed up to 9,000 and forced millions of people out of their homes, either to
safer areas inside Sudan or in neighboring countries.
He said the conflict led to “communities
torn apart. Vulnerable people with no access to life-saving aid. Mounting
humanitarian needs in the neighboring countries where millions have fled.”
According to the UN migration agency
IOM, more than 4.5 million people were displaced inside Sudan, while over 1.2
million others sought refuge in neighboring countries. The fighting also left
25 million people — more than half of the country’s population — in need of
humanitarian aid, Griffiths said.
Adding to the calamity, a cholera
outbreak was reported in the capital and other areas in the country, with more
than 1,000 suspected cases detected in Khartoum and the provinces of Kordofan
and Qadarif, he said.
Since the breakout of the war, the
Greater Khartoum area — the cities of Khartoum, Omdurman and Khartoum North —
has become a battleground, with airstrikes and shelling taking place in densely
populated areas.
There were reports of rape and gang rape
in Khartoum and Darfur, mostly blamed on the Rapid Support Forces. The RSF and
its allied Arab militias were also accused by the UN and international rights
groups of atrocities in Darfur, which was the scene of a genocidal campaign in
the early 2000s.
The recent atrocities in Darfur prompted
the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor to declare in July that he was
investigating alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the latest
fighting in the region.
Source: arabnews.com
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Hundreds gather in Tunis at rally in
support of Palestinian people
October 16, 2023
Hundreds of Tunisians from various
political and ideological backgrounds came together in Tunis to express their
unwavering support for the Palestinian people.
The Protest drew attention to the dire
situation in Gaza, where approximately one million residents have been
displaced due to a week of intensive Israeli bombardment
"There isn't an event linked to
Palestine that doesn't bring Tunisians of all political and ideological
persuasions together, and in my opinion, Palestine is the cause that unites
Tunisians," expressed Bahri Arbaoui, a demonstrator.
Ammar Jmaai, another demonstrator said:
"The Tunisian people, even if they
have distanced themselves from politics in Tunisia and avoided political
demonstrations, remain vigilant in the streets, especially when it comes to the
issue of freedom."
Around one million residents have been
displaced in the Gaza Strip by a week of heavy Israeli bombardment, carried out
in response to a bloody and unprecedented attack by Hamas militants on Saturday
7 October.
The escalation of violence in the region
has resulted in a significant humanitarian crisis, prompting Tunisians to voice
their concern and empathy.
Source: africanews.com
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South Africa recalls soldiers accused of
sexual abuse in DRC
October 15, 2023
On Sunday, the South African army
announced the recall of nearly a dozen peacekeepers suspected of operating a
system of mass prostitution in front of their base in the Democratic Republic
of Congo.
On Wednesday, the UN mission in the
Democratic Republic of Congo (Monusco) said it had arrested eight South African
peacekeepers deployed in the eastern town of Beni on charges of
"systematic and widespread violation" of UN rules against sexual exploitation
and abuse, and suspended one officer.
"In view of the seriousness of the
accusations", the South African army announced that it had "decided
to recall the soldiers to South Africa to respond", adding that
investigators had been sent to the DRC to look into the matter.
According to internal Monusco documents
consulted by AFP, the peacekeepers arrested are accused of being involved in a
system of "brothels" and "makeshift bars that appeared in front
of the Monusco base at Mavivi", near Beni, and were used for prostitution.
According to a preliminary report, the
officer in question "intimidated and verbally threatened" members of
the UN, following the arrest of peacekeepers for frequenting brothels, which
resulted in an attempted escape, a fight and a chase with elements of the UN
military police.
This week, the UN Secretary-General's
spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric, had indicated that Monusco had received
information indicating that the soldiers concerned "were meeting after
curfew in a bar outside the boundaries (of the base) known to be a place of
prostitution".
When they came to arrest the accused, UN
police officers "were physically attacked and threatened by members of the
South African contingent", he added.
Since May, Congolese President Félix
Tshisekedi has been calling on SADC (Southern African Development Community)
countries, including South Africa, to deploy in the DRC to support the
Congolese army in the face of the M23 rebellion, which has seized large swathes
of the east of the country.
The DRC government is also calling for
an "accelerated" departure of the UN force from next December,
accusing it, after 25 years of presence, of having failed to put an end to
violence by armed groups.
UN contingents in Africa have been
accused on several occasions in the past of fostering prostitution,
exploitation and sexual abuse of young local men and girls around their bases.
Last June, Tanzania announced the total
repatriation of a 60-strong military unit following "allegations of sexual
exploitation and abuse" involving 11 of them.
Source: africanews.com
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---------
Morocco: Tourists return amid
restoration process
October 15, 2023
Marrakech, a city known for its iconic
historical sites, suffered badly when a powerful earthquake rocked its
foundations in early September.
The 6.8 magnitude quake not only claimed
nearly 3,000 lives in Morocco, but also left a significant scare on iconic
landmarks
"The damage to the historical
monuments varies according to each region and its distance from the epicentre
of the earthquake. The most damaged is the Tinmel Mosque, which was close to
the epicentre of the earthquake in Ighil, as well as some mosques in Marrakesh,
such as the Kharbouch Mosque. The other monuments sustained minor damage,"
explains Rachid Chahmi, historian in Marrakech.
The country's Ministry of Culture has
taken on the challenge of restoring these architectural gems, employing skilled
artisans to reconstruct the time-honoured beauty.
"It must be dealt with great
caution so that all stakeholders and experts who work side by side, in an
initial stage through field inspection, can inspect the losses that have been
caused in those monuments. And the second stage is re-maintenance, which
requires great experience, not only maintaining the building, but preserving
the historical, cultural and engineering spirit of those buildings,"
informed Khadija Malki, architect.
Nevertheless, the restoration process
has started, slowly bringing back the tourists and the unique colours of the
city.
"We come to see the city, despite
the earthquake. We wanted to enjoy the experience, understand the culture, see
the sites affected (by the earthquake), to understand a little bit more how
people live here and how they survive, and to enjoy the experience,"
shared Polatat, a tourist from Ecuador.
With each passing day, the memory of the
earthquake diminishes, allowing both locals and visitors to once again embrace
the city's defining beauty and spirit.
Source: africanews.com
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Nigerian Students’ Association, NANS
Vows To Relocate Secretariat To Troubled Zamfara, Protest Against Incessant
Kidnappings
October 15, 2023
The National Association of Nigerian
Students (NANS) has declared its readiness to launch a massive protest against
incessant kidnappings and abductions of university students in Zamfara State.
This was made known in a press statement
released via the office of Usman Baba Kankia, NANS National Secretary, which
described Zamfara as a ‘No School Zone.’
According to the statement, NANS will
relocate its secretariat to Zamfara State to ensure the safety of the students.
The statement reads: “The National
Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) is deeply alarmed and concerned by the
ongoing threat and rampant kidnappings of innocent Nigerian students in Zamfara
state. In light of the current security situation and the safety of our fellow
students, NANS has taken the decision to declare Zamfara State a "No School
Zone."
“We cannot stand by while the lives and
education of our students are constantly under threat. The recent increase in
abductions of students in Zamfara state is unacceptable, and enough is enough.
“In response to this dire situation,
NANS is mobilizing Nigerian students from across the country to take a unified
stand against these acts of terror. We hereby announce our commitment to shut
down all tertiary education institutions in Zamfara state, starting from
tomorrow, 16th September. This will be a peaceful but resolute demonstration of
our determination to ensure the safety and security of our fellow students.
“Additionally, NANS will be relocating
our secretariat to Zamfara state as a symbol of our solidarity and commitment
to the cause. We will work tirelessly to mobilize Nigerian students to occupy
Zamfara state until our fellow students who have been taken captive regain
their freedom.
“We call on the authorities to take
immediate and decisive action to end these kidnappings, to secure the release
of the abducted students, and to restore peace and security to the state.
“NANS stands united, and we will
continue to advocate for the rights and safety of Nigerian students. Together,
we can put an end to these tragic incidents and ensure a brighter future for
our fellow students.”
Source: saharareporters.com
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Kidnap: University warns off-campus
students to relocate from outskirts
October 16, 2023
The Federal University in Zamfara State,
on Sunday, warned students and residents at the off-campus area of Damba on the
outskirts of Gusau, the state capital, to relocate and be safe from bandits.
In a statement by the university’s
Information Officer, Umar Usman, the university advised the students to
relocate to the Gusau metropolis or Sabon Gida area, now well secured by armed
security operatives.
The admonition followed Saturday’s
kidnap of four students from their off-campus residence at Damba.
Troops of Operation Hadarin Daji and
those of Metro Joint Patrol (Eagle Eye) have, however, rescued all four
students.
Mr Usman stated that students living on
the outskirts of Gusau, especially those in Damba, were more vulnerable to
bandits’ attacks.
Saturday’s abduction was the second time
terrorists would be attacking the university’s off-campus hostels in less than
30 days.
In September the terrorists abducted 25
students of the university alongside nine construction workers on the outskirts
of Gusau on 21 September. Twelve of the victims are still in captivity.
Source: premiumtimesng.com
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South Asia
Chinese, Palestinian envoys to
Bangladesh meet, discuss ongoing Israel-Hamas war
Oct 16, 2023
The Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Yao
Wen today met his Palestinian counterpart Yousef Ramadan and exchanged in-depth
views on the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.
Israel declared war on the Islamist
group last Sunday, a day after waves of fighters broke through the heavily
fortified border and shot, stabbed and burned to death more than 1,400, Israeli
civilians.
Seven days of relentless bombing
targeting those who masterminded the attack have left more than 2,450 people
dead, the majority ordinary Palestinians.
Ambassador Yao noted that regarding the
latest round of the conflict, China believes that it is a top priority to make
all efforts to stop the fighting as soon as possible, prevent it from spreading
endlessly and avoid further deterioration of the situation, said a press
release issued by the Chinese embassy in Dhaka.
He said the question of Palestine is at
the heart of the Middle East issue and a wound that keeps being torn open in
today's world. The root cause of this question lies in the long delay in
realising the dream of an independent State of Palestine and the failure to
redress the historical injustice suffered by the Palestinian people.
Israel has the right to statehood, so
does Palestine, he said. The Israelis have obtained the safeguards for survival,
but who will care about the survival of the Palestinians? The Jewish nation is
no longer homeless in the world, but when will the Palestinian nation return to
its home? There is no shortage of injustices in the world, but the injustice to
Palestine has dragged on for over half a century. The sufferings that plagued
generations must not continue, he said.
The answer to the question is the
two-state solution and an independent State of Palestine. This is how Palestine
and Israel could coexist in peace and how the Arabs and Jews could live in
harmony. Only when the two-state solution is fully implemented can the Middle
East truly enjoy peace and Israel enjoy lasting security. The right way to
advance the two-state solution is to resume peace talks as soon as possible.
All mechanisms for peace must play a positive role.
Ambassador Yao stressed that on the
question of Palestine, China will continue to stand on the side of peace, on
the side of justice, on the side of international law, on the side of shared
aspirations of the majority of countries in the world, and on the side of human
conscience.
Source: thedailystar.net
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://www.thedailystar.net/news/world/israel-hamas-war/news/chinese-palestinian-envoys-bangladesh-meet-discuss-ongoing-israel-hamas-war-3444946
---------
UN Security Council condemns attack on
Imam Zaman Mosque in Baghlan
Fidel Rahmati
October 15, 2023
On Saturday, United Nations Security Council
members strongly condemned the attack on the Imam Zaman Mosque in Pol-e-Khumri
city through an official statement.
In a statement from this office, it is
stated that “The members of the Security Council once again emphasize that
terrorism in all its forms and manifestations is one of the most serious
threats to peace and security in Afghanistan and the world.”
Imam Zaman Mosque in Pol-e-Khumri city,
the capital of Baghlan province, was attacked during Friday prayers, attended
by Shi’ite worshippers, leading to international outrage.
According to reports, the nature of this
attack was suicide in nature, resulting in more than 30 deaths and dozens of
injuries.
Mustafa Hashemi, the head of Information
and Culture for the Taliban administration, confirmed the death of seven
individuals and injuries to 17 others in this incident.
Furthermore, the United Nations Security
Council has called for accountability from the perpetrators, organizers,
financiers, and supporters of these terrorist acts. It emphasizes that all
countries must fulfil their commitments to combat terrorism following
international laws.
Richard Bennett, the Special Rapporteur
on Human Rights of the United Nations, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan
(UNAMA), the Iranian Embassy in Kabul, Rina Amiri, the U.S. Special Envoy for
Human Rights and Women in Afghanistan, along with several political figures,
have condemned this attack.
It is worth noting that the ISIS group
has claimed responsibility for this attack.
Source: khaama.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://www.khaama.com/un-security-council-condemns-attack-on-imam-zaman-mosque-in-baghlan/
--------
Herat Hit By More Powerful Earthquakes
This Morning
October 15, 2023
A magnitude 6.3 earthquake occurred 32.8
km south, southeast of Herat center at 8:06 am on Sunday, Afghanistan Time,
USGS said.
This was followed by another earthquake
in the same area, according to a TOLOnews reporter.
Herat district hospital officials said
that two people have died and more than 170 others were injured in today's
earthquakes in the province.
"We were inside the house, then I
told the children to come out of the house, then the wall fell and my leg
broke,” Abdul Ghani, who was injured by the earthquake, told TOLOnews.
"We were at home when the
earthquake hit. I fell down and I didn't understand what happened until later,”
Abdul Karim, a victim told TOLOnews.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization
said on X account that more than 120 injured have been brought to Herat
Regional Hospital and many more have been taken to other hospitals in the city.
WHO reported the earthquake had a 6.4
magnitude.
Herat has seen waves of earthquakes
within the past two weeks. More than 2,400 people were killed and over 2,000
others were injured in the earthquake that targeted the Zindajan district of
the province on October 7.
At least 140 others were injured in
another earthquake that happened on October 11.
According to USGS, in addition to the
first earthquake, a magnitude 5.4 earthquake happened 27 km north of Herat city
at 8:28 am, another earthquake of 4.1 magnitude happened in the Hundu Kush area
at 9:40 am, an earthquake of 4.2 magnitude occurred at 10:11 am 50 km south
southeast of Herat center, at 10:39 am an earthquake with magnitude 4.2
occurred 23 km north of Herat city.
Source: tolonews.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-185547
---------
World Reactions to Baghlan Bombing
Continue
October 15, 2023
Members of the UN Security Council in a
statement condemned “in the strongest terms the heinous terrorist attack
against the Imam Zaman Mosque in Pule Khomri, the capital of Baghlan province
in northern Afghanistan, on 13 October, which was claimed by ISIL (Daesh)-K and
resulted in dozens of people killed and many more wounded.”
The members of the Security Council
expressed “their deepest sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims,
and they wished a speedy and full recovery to those who were injured.”
At least 7 people were killed, and 17
others were wounded in the suicide bombing that targeted Imam Zaman Mosque in
Pul-e-Khumri.
The members of the Security Council
underlined “the need to hold perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors
of these reprehensible acts of terrorism accountable and bring them to
justice.”
“The activities of Daesh should be
prevented. I mean Daesh activities have reduced but not eliminated completely,
not to zero. When proper measures are not taken for it and this group is not
pressured constantly, its activities may increase,” said Asadullah Nadim, a
political analyst.
The Islamic Emirate’s spokesman,
Zabiullah Mujahid, meanwhile said that Daesh is being suppressed in
Afghanistan.
“Within these several past months, many
sanctuaries of Daesh ... have been eliminated. Only a few percentages in some
areas are still making movements,” he said.
The attack was widely condemned across
the world.
The spokesman for the European External
Action Service in a statement condemned the blast, saying that the “attacks
that deliberately target civilians are violations of fundamental human rights
and international humanitarian law."
“The human rights of all Afghans,
including the right to life and the rights of all ethnic and religious
communities, have to be protected and respected,” the statement said.
Torek Farhadi, a political analyst, said
that Daesh has been active in Afghanistan for seven years.
“Daesh in Afghanistan approximately has
been targeting our Shia countrymen from seven years in mosques and clubs as
well as schools. We should be careful because Afghanistan has yet to get rid of
this problem,” he said.
Source: tolonews.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-185561
--------
UAE to Build a Hospital for Treatment of
Herat Quake Survivors
2023-10-15
HERAT (BNA): A well-equipped hospital
will be built by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the region of the recent
devastating earthquake in Herat province.
The hospital will be constructed in just
eight hours to provide medical care for the injured people.
A UAE delegation, which includes health
workers and equipment, visited Herat province and announced the plan for this
vital health facility.
The governor of Herat, Sheikh Mawlana
Noor Ahmad Islamjar, appreciated the benevolent action of the UAE and assured
the local administration’s cooperation in the establishment of the health
center.
Source: bakhtarnews.af
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https://bakhtarnews.af/en/uae-to-build-a-hospital-for-treatment-of-herat-quake-survivors/
--------
Japan’s Aid to Earthquake Victims
Delivered to ARCS
2023-10-15
KABUL (BNA): The ambassador of Japan in
Kabul handed over the country’s aid to the Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS)
at Kabul International Airport, intended for the victims of the recent
earthquake in Herat province.
According to a statement from the ARCS,
the aid includes 2,940 blankets, 1,480 mattresses, 250 water bottles, 210
tents, 21 plastic carpets, and 5 water purifiers.
These materials are allocated to assist
the earthquake victims in Herat province.
Mawlavi Abdul Latif Sabit, an ARCS
official, stated upon receiving these materials that they will be distributed
to the affected individuals as soon as possible.
Source: bakhtarnews.af
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https://bakhtarnews.af/en/japans-aid-to-earthquake-victims-delivered-to-arcs/
--------
One arrested over killing of Rohingya
leader Mohib Ullah
Oct 16, 2023
Rapid Action Battalion has arrested Noor
Kamal, alias Somiuddin, one of the suspected killers of Rohingya leader Mohib
Ullah.
Noor Kamal was nabbed from the
Kutupalang area, said ASP Md Abu Salam Chowdhury, senior assistant Rab-15
director (law and media) in Cox's Bazar without disclosing when he was
arrested.
Foreign and locally made arms were
recovered from his possession, he added.
Further details about his arrest will be
disclosed at a press briefing today.
On September 29, 2021, last year, armed
assailants shot Rohingya leader Mohib Ullah dead at his office in Kutupalong
refugee camp in Ukhiya.
Shortly after the murder, Mohib's
brother Habib Ullah claimed that Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (Arsa), locally
known as Al-Yakin, was behind the assassination.
Source: thedailystar.net
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/crime-justice/news/one-arrested-over-killing-rohingya-leader-mohib-ullah-3444766
--------
Repatriation of Afghan Refugees to their
homeland continuing on daily basis
October 16, 2023
The repatriation of Afghan Refugees to
their homeland is continuing on daily basis.
A total of 3127 Afghans left for their
country yesterday. Of these 387 men, 233 women and 1055 children left for
Afghanistan via Torkham border.
The illegal Afghan residents have been
given a deadline of 31st October by the government to leave the country.
The voluntary return of Afghans to their
homeland is commendable. This will produce positive results for both the
countries.
Source: radio.gov.pk
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://www.radio.gov.pk/16-10-2023/repatriation-of-afghan-refugees-to-their-homeland-continuing-on-daily-basis
-------
Arab World
Blinken says meeting with Saudi Crown
Prince was 'very productive'
October 15, 2023
RIYADH:US Secretary of State Antony
Blinken on Sunday said he held a "very productive" meeting with the
Saudi crown prince in Riyadh, a critical diplomatic engagement as Israel
prepared to launch a ground assault in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and
Washington worked to contain the conflict.
"Very productive," Blinken
replied to a question from a Reuters reporter as he returned to the hotel where
the US delegation was staying.
In the meeting, Saudi Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Salman stressed the need to find ways to stop the conflict, and
respect international law, including by lifting the Israeli blockade on Gaza,
Saudi state news agency SPA reported.
"(The crown prince stressed the
need to find) a peace path to ensure that the Palestinian people obtain their
legitimate rights and achieve just and lasting peace," SPA said.
The top US diplomat's meeting on Sunday
with the Kingdom's de-facto ruler comes as the region is on the brink of a
further escalation with Gaza, a small coastal enclave home to 2.3 million
Palestinians, bracing for Israel's ground offensive.
Blinken has embarked on his most
extensive trip to date to the Middle East, working with Arab allies to prevent
the war from spiralling into a wider conflict and help secure the release of
hostages kidnapped by Hamas fighters.
Israel has vowed to annihilate Hamas in
retaliation for a rampage by its fighters in Israeli towns eight days ago in
which they shot men, women and children and seized hostages in the worst attack
on civilians in the country's history.
Late on Saturday, Iran warned of
"far-reaching consequences" if Israel's bombardment was not stopped.
A US official said the meeting lasted
for just under an hour and took place at the Crown Prince's private farm
residence.
"The Secretary highlighted the
United States' unwavering focus on halting terrorist attacks by Hamas, securing
the release of all hostages, and preventing the conflict from spreading,"
the State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement.
"The two affirmed their shared
commitment to protecting civilians and to advancing stability across the Middle
East and beyond," Miller added.
Blinken started his tour on Thursday in
Israel, voicing robust US support for Washington's closest Middle East ally in
its war against Hamas. He is expected to travel to Egypt later on Sunday.
Gaza authorities said more than 2,300
people had been killed, a quarter of them children, and nearly 10,000 wounded.
Rescue workers searched desperately for survivors of nighttime air raids. One
million people had reportedly left their homes.
Blinken on Saturday met Saudi Foreign
Minister Prince Faisal Bin Farhan in Riyadh. Before their meeting, Blinken said
protecting civilians on both sides of the conflict was vital.
"And we're working together to do
exactly that, in particular working on establishing safe areas in Gaza, working
on establishing corridors so that humanitarian assistance can reach people who
need it."
Source: tribune.com.pk
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2441289/blinken-says-meeting-with-saudi-crown-prince-was-very-productive
-------
KSrelief marks World Mental Health Day
at Syrian refugee camp in Jordan
October 16, 2023
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s aid organization,
KSrelief, marked World Mental Health Day recently with various activities and
social support at Jordan’s Zaatari camp for Syrian refugees.
In collaboration with global non-profit
International Medical Corps, the center organized a special event which
included information sessions on protecting vulnerable groups, especially
children. There were also several trees planted at the event, the Saudi Press
Agency reported on Sunday.
World Health Mental Day is held annually
on Oct. 10.
Saudi Arabia’s humanitarian programs for
refugees and displaced people are provided through KSrelief.
Source: arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2392036/saudi-arabia
--------
Saudi deputy minister receives Iraqi
ambassador to the Kingdom
October
15, 2023
Sara Al-Sayed, deputy minister for
public diplomacy at the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on Sunday received
Safia Taleb Al-Suhail, the Iraqi ambassador to the Kingdom, in Riyadh.
In a separate meeting, the Minister of
Islamic Affairs, Dawah and Guidance Sheikh Dr. Abdullatif bin Abdulaziz
Al-Asheikh received French Ambassador to the Kingdom Ludovic Pouille.
During the two meetings, all sides
reviewed bilateral relations and discussed regional and international
developments of common concern.
Source: arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2391891/saudi-arabia
-------
Saudi crown prince receives letter from
prime minister of the UAE
October 15, 2023
RIYADH: Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
on Sunday received a letter from Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, the prime minister
of the UAE, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
The message addressed the strong
relations between the two countries and ways to further boost cooperation in a
variety of fields.
It was received in Riyadh by Saudi
Deputy Foreign Minister Waleed bin Abdulkarim Al-Khuraiji during his meeting
with the UAE’s Ambassador to the Kingdom Sheikh Nahyan bin Saif Al-Nahyan.
The two officials reviewed bilateral
relations and discussed issues of mutual interest at their meeting.
Source: arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2391686/saudi-arabia
-------
Europe
Hamas attack ends relations between
Netanyahu and Putin – WSJ
15 OCTOBER 2023
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime
Minister, managed to maintain "warm communication" with Russian
dictator Vladimir Putin, but now this has ended, writes The Wall Street
Journal.
Details: Journalists remind that Netanyahu
stood with Putin even when the latter was increasingly isolated. Even Russia's
invasion of Ukraine and the warming of its relations with Israel's sworn rival,
Iran, have failed to undermine this cooperation.
It is noted that the leaders kept in touch
by phone, and Netanyahu announced a non-aligned approach to the war in Ukraine,
refusing to provide Kyiv with lethal assistance or air defence systems despite
Western pressure.
Quote: "Now, after the deadly
attack by Iranian-backed Hamas militants on Israel, these conversations seem to
have stopped.
Putin is one of the few world leaders
who did not call Netanyahu to express his condolences over the deaths of more
than 1,300 Israelis killed by Hamas in this attack."
Only the latest news, only the facts, only
the truth. Follow Ukrainska Pravda on Twitter!
More details: The publication notes that
the termination of the agreement between Russia and Israel highlights the
broader tectonic shifts in Russia's role in the Middle East since Putin started
the war in Ukraine.
In exchange for the Shahed drones,
Russia provided Iran with Yak-130 training aircraft and is considering selling
Su-35 fighter jets to Iran, which could change the balance of air forces in the
Middle East.
The journalists also explain that the Kremlin
has its own reasons to welcome the war as far away from the Russian borders as
possible.
Ahead of Russia's presidential election
scheduled for March, Putin is looking for a way to distract himself from the
war in Ukraine, reads the article.
Note: On 14 October, Hamas stated that
it welcomes "Russia's tireless efforts aimed at ending Israel's
aggression" against militants.
Source: pravda.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/10/15/7424210/
--------
Secret KGB documents reveal horror
crimes of Ukrainian Nazi collaborators
15 Oct, 2023
RT has obtained a trove of declassified
documents from the KGB, highlighting crimes committed by Ukrainian nationalists
in Soviet territories occupied by Nazi Germany during WWII. The documents
include witness accounts of people who survived ethnic cleansings, as well as
testimonies of Ukrainian collaborators captured by the Soviet domestic
intelligence, then known as the NKVD.
Large swaths of present-day Ukraine fell
under Nazi occupation in summer 1941 as German troops advanced deep into the
Soviet Union. In fact, attacks on ethnic Jews and Poles, as well as local
communists, began immediately as Soviet troops withdrew.
“In the first hours following the
retreat of the Bolsheviks, the Ukrainian population has demonstrated
commendable activity against Jews,” a status report from the Gestapo, Nazi
Germany’s secret police, dated July 16, 1941, reads.
Said “commendable activities” involved
burning down a synagogue in the western Ukrainian city of Dobromyl and the
murder of some 50 Jews by an “angry crowd” in Sambor. In Sokal, the help of
local “trustworthy Ukrainians” allowed Nazis to find and exterminate some 183
“communist Jews.” Moreover, Ukrainian nationalists rounded up and brutally
abused around 1,000 Jews in Lvov, subsequently putting them into a local
prison, with the facility and the ‘inmates’ eventually taken over by the
Germans, according to the status report.
With the German occupation regime
properly established, the ethnic cleansing process was streamlined, with the
so-called Ukrainian Auxiliary Police, created by the Nazis in August 1941,
playing a very active role in it. According to the testimony of the Ukrainian
police commander in Belya Tserkov, a major city in the Kiev region, Mikhail
Tomasevish, members of his unit were so eager to kill Jews that they acted even
beyond orders given by their Nazi masters. Namely, the local police secretary
took pleasure in “questioning” arrested Jews, beating them with a rubber tube,
and freely taking them “away” afterwards, with none of the detained ever
returning to the police HQ.
Tomasevich led the police unit until
1943, when he fled alongside retreating German forces but ultimately ended up
in the NKVD’s custody. While Tomasevich claimed most of the city’s Jews were
exterminated before he assumed the post, he admitted partaking, one way or
another, in the killing of over 1,000 people. Under his leadership, the police
continued to actively search for survivors, using various tricks to lure the
remaining Jews in the city to their deaths.
“To identify hiding persons of Jewish
nationality, the [German field] gendarmerie, through the [Ukrainian] police,
organized so-called traps, i.e., it was announced throughout the city that
henceforth Jews would be allowed to live freely, but only in select houses,”
Tomasevich testified.
“I put all the Jews who believed that
and settled in the houses on a special register, a special folder of cases,
titled ‘Yids’ [a derogatory term for ‘Jews’], was opened,” he explained, adding
that when the flow of Jews willing to settle in the houses waned, all of them,
some 50 people, were detained and killed “around January or February 1942.”
Civilian Ukrainian authorities,
established under German occupation, have actively contributed to ethnic
cleansings as well. For instance, according to an indictment in a 1944 case
about Nazi crimes committed in the city of Sarny and its vicinity, local
Ukrainian mayor Marinyuk directly facilitated the extermination of the entire
local Jewish population in August 1942.
Some 13,000 people were gathered at a
local concentration camp, guarded by field gendarmerie and Ukrainian police,
under the pretext of being relocated for “work” in Germany. Instead, the Jews
ended up before firing squads, with children thrown into the death pits and
buried alive. Only some 40–50 people managed to escape the massacre, with
Ukrainian nationalist units in pursuit, and those who managed to capture
escapees were awarded a sack of salt.
Source: rt.com
Please click the following URL to read
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https://www.rt.com/russia/584980-kgb-documents-ukrainian-nazis/
---------
EU reveals position on Israel-Gaza war
15 Oct, 2023
The EU has condemned Hamas and ordered
the militant group to release Israeli hostages without preconditions, affirming
support for Israel’s right to self-defense within the confines of international
law in a statement released by the European Council on Sunday.
Affirming the EU’s commitment to “a
lasting and sustainable peace based on the two-state solution through
reinvigorated efforts in the Middle East Peace Process,” the statement called
for continued engagement with “legitimate Palestinian authorities” and their
regional and international partners.
The Council members described
humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza as critical for preventing further
escalation of hostilities, while reiterating that there was “no justification
for terror.” All civilians must be protected “at all times in line with
International Humanitarian Law,” the statement read. The EU was “ready to
continue supporting those civilians most in need in Gaza in coordination with
partners,” so long as it could be ensured that such support was not “abused by
terrorist organizations,” it said.
The European Commission on Monday
pledged to “urgently review” development aid to the Palestinian territories to
make sure none of the funds were being misused, walking back a statement issued
less than six hours earlier by EU Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi that all aid to
Palestine would “immediately” be suspended.
Immediately following Hamas’ surprise
attack on Israel last Saturday, the EU declared that the bloc’s 27 member
states stood “in solidarity with Israel which has the right to defend itself in
line with international law, in the face of such violent and indiscriminate
attacks.” Hamas’ activities would only threaten Palestinian hopes for peace,
the statement claimed, notably omitting any mention of a two-state solution.
Israel subsequently launched the most
intense bombing campaign against Gaza in the territory’s history, killing over
2,329 Palestinians, leveling entire neighborhoods, and displacing nearly half a
million people as of Sunday.
An evacuation order issued by Israel
Defense Forces for all 1.1 million inhabitants of northern Gaza on Thursday has
been decried as aggravated ethnic cleansing by UN human rights experts, while
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has rejected the demand as
tantamount to a second Nakba, referring to the forced removal of hundreds of
thousands of Palestinians from their homes and land by the newly-established
Israel in 1947 and 1948.
Source: rt.com
Please click the following URL to read
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https://www.rt.com/news/584989-eu-support-israel-condemn-hamas/
--------
UK FM pledges support to Britons trapped
in Gaza
October 15, 2023
LONDON: UK Foreign Secretary James
Cleverly has said British citizens trapped in Gaza will receive support to
leave the region from the government.
Cleverly told Sky News that the
situation was “incredibly difficult” but that efforts were being made to open
the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.
“I’ve spoken on a number of occasions
with my Egyptian counterpart,” Cleverly told the “Sunday Morning with Trevor
Phillips” program.
“We stay in very close coordination with
the United States of America, with other friends in the region and of course
with the Israeli government trying to coordinate a time window when the Rafah
crossing can be opened so that people can leave. That is proving incredibly
difficult, so I’m not able to say with any certainty when that crossing may be
open.”
He continued: “This is very important
for the British nationals in Gaza. We continue to support them, we continue to
update them as much as we can through text messaging and whatever other means
is available, so we will keep supporting the British nationals in Gaza and we
will keep working with the US, with the Israelis and others to try and bring
this crossing into use.”
Cleverly added that it was “not
unreasonable” to say that as many as 10 UK nationals are being held hostage by
Hamas in Gaza.
He also warned pro-Palestine protesters
in Britain not to demonstrate outright support for Hamas, which is a proscribed
terrorist organization in the UK, following a major rally in London on
Saturday, during which several attendees appeared to endorse the group.
“I would remind people that being
passionate about a better life for the Palestinian people is a passion that I
share and (that is) indeed shared by (the) government,” he said.
“However, glorifying murder and
terrorism is no benefit to the Palestinian people, just as Hamas (is) not (a)
friend to the Palestinian people.”
The foreign secretary also urged Israel
to exercise restraint in its forthcoming operations against Hamas in Gaza.
“I have said it’s in Israel’s interest
to avoid civilian casualties and Palestinian casualties because Hamas clearly
wants to turn this into a wider Arab-Israeli war or indeed a war between the
Muslim world and the wider world, and none of us, including Israel, want that
to be the case and so that’s why we do give that strong advice from a position
of friendship,” he said.
David Lammy, Labour’s shadow foreign
secretary, also appeared on the show, where he defended Israel’s right to
defend itself and recover those people abducted by Hamas on Oct. 7.
Lammy said Israel faced a “huge
existential crisis,” but added: “We must distinguish between Hamas, a terrorist
group, and the Palestinian people. International law must prevail and that
means that you have to minimize civilian casualties.”
Source: arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2391641/world
-------
Second evacuation flight carrying
Ukrainians takes off from Israel
16 OCTOBER 2023
TETIANA LOZOVENKO
A second evacuation plane with 155
Ukrainians on board took off from Israel on 16 October.
Quote: "On 16 October, a second
evacuation flight with 155 Ukrainian citizens on board, including 107 women and
23 children, took off from Ben Gurion Airport (Tel Aviv) on a HiSky flight to
Cluj (Romania).
[...] We are continuing to work on
finding all possible options for further evacuation of Ukrainian
citizens."
Details: The embassy says it has helped
to complete the necessary procedures and documents for departure.
Background: The first evacuation flight
with 207 Ukrainian citizens on board took off from Tel Aviv to Bucharest on 14
October.
Source: pravda.com.ua
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/10/16/7424285/
---------
Nearly 260 Ukrainians entrapped in Gaza
Strip – Zelenskyy
15 OCTOBER 2023
KATERYNA TYSHCHENKO
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that
there are almost 260 Ukrainians unable to leave the Gaza Strip, and diplomats
are working together with partners to evacuate them.
Source: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in
the evening address
Quote: "Ukrainian diplomats,
intelligence and security forces continue their work to help our citizens who
find themselves stuck in the Middle East, in Israel and in the Gaza Strip.
The evacuation of Ukrainians from Israel
continues. More than 200 people have already been taken to Romania – mostly
women and children, and new flights are being prepared.
Almost 260 of our people are known to be
in the Gaza Strip at the moment. Its exit is currently blocked for citizens of
all countries, but we are working with partners to evacuate our citizens."
Details: Zelenskyy assured that
Ukrainian diplomats are ready to help every citizen who needs it.
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"Therefore, I once again call on
all Ukrainians who may be abroad and need help: at any time, in any way,
contact our diplomatic missions abroad," the president said.
Background:
The first evacuation flight with 207
Ukrainian citizens on board took off from Tel Aviv to Bucharest. Another flight
with 155 Ukrainians was planned for Sunday 15 October.
Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets arrived in
Cairo to help set up a mechanism for the evacuation of Ukrainian citizens from
the Gaza Strip. He said that 243 Ukrainians need urgent evacuation from the
Gaza Strip.
Lubinets said that for unknown reasons,
the Israeli Foreign Ministry revoked permission for the planned evacuation of
Ukrainians and other foreigners from the Gaza Strip on Saturday, two hours
before its start.
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Source: pravda.com.ua
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/10/15/7424254/
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Biden to push Israel, Ukraine aid package
over $2 billion
15/10/2023
US President Joe Biden’s administration
plans to ask Congress for more than $2 billion in assistance for Ukraine and
Israel, according to US national security advisor Jake Sullivan.
In an interview with CBS, Sullivan said the
US continues providing Ukraine with critically important weapons to repel
Russian attacks.
“But we need Congress to act. And the
President has made clear that he is going to go to Congress with a package of
funding for Ukraine as well as continued support for Israel,” Sullivan stated.
Sullivan indicated intensive engagement
with Congress could come this week as the administration works on the aid
package and seeks bipartisan backing. When asked if the amount totals $2
billion, combining aid for Ukraine, Israel, border protection, and Taiwan
support, he replied the sum would be “significantly higher.”
“But it will, as I said, certainly
include the necessary military equipment to defend freedom, sovereignty, and
territorial integrity in Ukraine and to help Israel defend itself as it fights
its terrorist foes.” the advisor added.
Earlier media reports said Biden would
unveil his request for supplemental Ukraine and Israel funding next week.
Source: euromaidanpress.com
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https://euromaidanpress.com/2023/10/15/biden-to-push-israel-ukraine-aid-package-over-2-billion/
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Pakistan
Caretaker PM calls for immediate
ceasefire, lifting of blockade in Gaza
October 16, 2023
Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq
Kakar has called for an immediate ceasefire and lifting of the blockade in
Gaza.
In a tweet on Monday, he expressed
Pakistan's complete solidarity with the oppressed people of Palestine.
Expressing deep concern on the ongoing
violence and loss of life in Gaza, the Prime Minister said Israel’s deliberate,
indiscriminate and disproportionate targeting of civilians is against all norms
of civility and in manifest violation of international law.
Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar said the breakout of
violence needs to be seen in the context of years of forced and illegal
occupation of Palestinian territory and repressive policies against its people.
The Prime Minister said the UN and
international community must immediately act to open safe and unrestricted humanitarian
corridors for transportation of urgently needed relief supplies to the besieged
Gaza.
He said Pakistan is closely coordinating
with OIC and its member states on the fast deteriorating situation in Gaza.
He said Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani
will attend
Emergency Meeting of OIC's Executive
Committee on Wednesday, and call for urgent action to alleviate the suffering
of people of Gaza.
Source: radio.gov.pk
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https://www.radio.gov.pk/16-10-2023/caretaker-pm-calls-for-immediate-ceasefire-lifting-of-blockade-in-gaza
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Jamaat demonstrates in Karachi against
Israeli aggression in Gaza
October 16, 2023
Imran Ayub
KARACHI: The Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) on
Sunday staged a mammoth rally to express solidarity with Palestinian people and
condemn Israeli air raids on civilian targets in Gaza. It also deplored silence
of the Islamic world which, it believed, was indirectly supporting Zionists and
their ambitions.
The JI also rejected the “so-called
two-state formula” to allow Israel to maintain its occupation of the Arab land,
and warned the United States of a protest march up to its embassy in Islamabad
if it continued to support the Zionist ideology.
Thousands of people, including women
and children, took part in JI’s ’Al Aqsa March, held mainly along Sharea
Faisal. Not only JI leadership, but members of various civil society
organisations also addressed the charged crowd.
Riding motorbikes, cars, vans, buses and
other vehicles, people from all walks of life as well as leaders, workers and
supporters of the participating organisations carrying placards and flags of
Palestine attended the rally. The procession was joined by caravans at
different intersections and roads leading to Sharea Faisal.
JI chief Siraj ul Haq in his address
criticised the Islamic world in general and government of Pakistan in
particular for their disappointing response to continuous Israeli air raids on
Gaza over the last several days which caused hundreds of casualties to civilian
men, women and children.
He expressed his dismay over the
“traditional lukewarm attitude” always shown by the leadership of Islamic
states in such naked aggression by Israeli occupation forces in the region.
He also warned that if the Israeli
aggression was not stopped immediately, the situation could lead to a ‘third
world war’.
“What could we expect more from rulers
of Islamic states who have failed to show any courage for the people of
Palestine,” he said. “But I warn them from this platform that the Ummah would
never accept the intended occupation of Al Quds by the Jews. It’s the cowardice
of the rulers which had encouraged Israel.
The Muslim countries have all the
required resources, including seven million army troops, 4,000 tanks, 15,000
aircraft and 70 per cent of the world’s oil reserves at their disposal, but
their rulers, as ever, failed even to timely call a meeting of the OIC,“ he
wondered.
Apart from party workers and supporters,
the march was also joined by various professional bodies, human rights, labour
and civil society organisations.
Leaders and members of the Karachi Bar
Association, National Labour Federation, Pakistan Steel Labour Organisaton and
Sindh Farmers Front also joined the JI leaders on the stage.
JI Karachi chief Hafiz Naeem ur Rahman
in his speech paid tribute to Karachiites, who showed their trust and support
to his party.
“Whenever we gave a call, the people of
Karachi came out of their homes in huge numbers,” he said. “Whether it’s a call
for the rights of Karachi or Isaraeli aggression against our Palestinian
brothers and sisters, they are always there with the Jamaat to register their
protest. Today, they again took to the streets on JI’s call to express
solidarity with the people of Gaza, he added.
Hafiz Naeem said this march proved that
the Ummah was united for Palestine and this “huge crowd” was a clear message to
the international community that Muslims of the entire world were united
against Israel.
Source: dawn.com
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https://www.dawn.com/news/1781266/jamaat-demonstrates-in-karachi-against-israeli-aggression-in-gaza
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PTI leader Murad Saeed escapes arrest in
Peshawar
October 16, 2023
PESHAWAR: Former federal minister and
Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leader Murad Saeed narrowly escaped a police raid on a
house in Peshawar’s Defence Housing Authority, the police said on Sunday.
They, however, said that they had
arrested Saeed’s relative and personal staff members. They added that other
family members, including two women, were charged in an FIR registered at the
Nasir Bagh police station for giving Mr Saeed an opportunity to escape.
SP Warsak division Arshad Khan said that
the Nasir Bagh police had received information about Saeed’s presence at his
relative’s house in Peshawar’s DHA on Saturday. He added that a team raided the
house.
Khan said that police arrested Saeed’s
brother-in-law, Asad Ilyas, Saeed’s two personal employees and took into
custody two vehicles, registered in Saeed’s name.
According to the FIR, police carried out
the raid after receiving information that Saeed, wanted in several cases,
including Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorist Act, was present at Ilyas’s house. It
added that people present in the house, including women, scuffled with the
police, giving Saeed an opportunity to escape.
The FIR stated that the police recovered
pistols and ammunition from the two cars. It further added that the house
owner, Ilyas, Mohammad Arsalan, Azizur Rehman and two woman relatives of the
former federal minister, were charged under sections 506, 353, 186, 216, 148
and 149 of Pakistan Penal Code and 15 of the Arms Act.
Source: dawn.com
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https://www.dawn.com/news/1781349/pti-leader-murad-saeed-escapes-arrest-in-peshawar
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Cipher case: IHC announces verdict on
Imran’s plea against jail trial today
October 16, 2023
Awais Yousafzai
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court
(IHC) will announce its reserved ruling on incarcerated Pakistan
Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s plea against his trial in
connection with the cipher case inside the jail premises.
According to the cause list issued by
the IHC registrar’s office, Chief Justice Aamer Farooq will announce the
reserved verdict on Khan’s petition challenging the Law Ministry’s notification
to hold his trial in jail in the diplomatic cable case. The IHC had reserved
the verdict on September 12.
At the last hearing, Additional Attorney
General Munawar Iqbal Duggal had told the court that the cipher’s hearing in
Attock jail was one-time permission.
“The hearing on the case was held in
[Attock] jail on August 30,” he had said, adding the ministry had also issued a
no-objection certificate (NOC) on holding of trial in the prison.
At this, the IHC chief justice remarked
that the jail trial was not unusual.
The prosecutor said the notification on
moving the court to Attock jail was issued as per the law.
The court asked what would happen if the
notification was issued again. “It has to be decided under what authority the
notification can be issued,” the IHC judge observed.
PTI lawyer Sher Afzal Marwat had argued
that the notification was based on ill intent. “The application has not become
ineffective, the court has to decide notification’s validity,” he added.
Source: thenews.com.pk
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https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1119585-cipher-case-ihc-announces-verdict-on-imran-s-plea-against-jail-trial-today
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URL:
https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/vande-mataram-bharat-mata-jai-minister/d/130913