Muslim World – Page 76

Saudi Cleric Says Women Are not Required to Wear Hijab, Can Put Makeup

December 13, 2014 by Nasheman

Rabat: A new fatwa against wearing Hijab has been issued last week by a Saudi Cleric who said that “Islam doesn’t require women to wear veil,” adding that women can put makeup on, take pictures for themselves and post them on social media networks.

The fatwa was issued by Saudi Arabia’s former head of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in Makkah, Ahmed bin Qassim al-Ghamidi.

Answering a question in which a Twitter user asked him whether women can post their pictures on social media, the Saudi cleric said that “there is nothing wrong if a woman showed her face or put make-up.”

He goes on to add that it is permissible for a woman to post her pictures on social media, reported Al Moheet.

In another tweet, Ahmed bin Qassim al-Ghamidi goes as far as to claim that only the wives of prophet (MPBUH) “were required to wear Hijab so that adult males outside of their immediate family couldn’t see them.”

To support his claims, he quoted a previous saying of the Palestinian Islamic scholar Ibn Qudamah al-Maqdqsi in which he said that “if the woman’s face and hands were intimate parts of her body, it would not be Haram for her to cover them while performing Al Haj.”

قال ابن قدامة في المغني :(ولو كان الوجه والكفان عورة لما حرم سترهما ولأن الحاجة تدعو إلى كشف الوجه للبيع والشراء والكفين للأخذ والإعطاء)..

— أحمد بن قاسم الغامدي (@DAhmadq84) December 1, 2014

Ahmed bin Qassim al-Ghamidi goes on to add instead of blaming women, the blame should put on men who are required to lower their gaze. The Saudi cleric quoted Morocco’s scholar Qadi Ayyad, who once said: It’s not mandatory for woman to cover her face outside her house, but it is a Sunna Mustahaba_ (preferable not obligatory). Men, on the other hand, shall lower their gaze.”

قال القاضي عياض:"قال العلماء: لا يجب على المرأة أن تستر وجهها في طريقها, إنما ذلك سنة مستحبة لها, ويجب على الرجل غض البصر في جميع الأحوال".

— أحمد بن قاسم الغامدي (@DAhmadq84) November 30, 2014

The silent deaths of refugees in Ersal: 18 perished in 45 days

December 12, 2014 by Nasheman

Syrian refugee children sit outside their tent near the hills of Ersal. Al-Akhbar/Marwan Tahtah

by Eva Shoufi, Al Akhbar

The security situation in Ersal made everyone forget that there are 80,000 refugees living there in a harsh climate and poor medical conditions. In a month and a half, there has been 18 deaths among refugees in Ersal, including 12 children, that we heard nothing of. These same security conditions had led international organizations to abandon the town in August, leaving behind innocent people dying silently one by one.

Fourteen-year-old Kh. F. – let’s call him Khaled – died on December 9. Before him, F. H. – an 18-day-old infant – died because no one could take her to a hospital outside Ersal. We saw another 17-day-old infant dying. We did not ask her name, her face was enough to call her Malak (Angel). Born in a tent, she died from the cold, as did others. Just this week, four Syrian children died in Ersal.

Eleven refugees, including nine children, have died in Ersal since the beginning of December, joining seven others who died in November. We are discussing here 18 deaths, including 12 children, in a span of one month and a half. Twelve children die and people carry on with their lives as usual, this is a tragedy for humanity even before being a tragedy for the refugees themselves. The number of deaths is likely higher because the figure we have is based only on information from al-Hay’a al-Toubia field hospital in Ersal. This means dozens of children are dying without anyone hearing about them.

There is something strange about the death of these children passing without the uproar we’ve gotten used to, an uproar that in actuality never got us anywhere. But still, having someone scream in the face of this death is necessary, it tells us that there is still a pulse beating in this world. The absence of any noise, however, killed this pulse.

These numbers were announced by Dr. Qassem al-Zein, who heads al-Hay’a al-Toubia facility in Ersal. He said the medical situation in the town is catastrophic, pointing out that this is just the number of deaths at al-Hay’a hospital. Three children died this month from pneumonia caused by the cold weather, he added. What is shocking is that all these deaths are in Ersal and not the hills of Ersal, except one person who came from the hills for treatment at the makeshift hospital.

The hospital report refers to Malak who was born in a tent in the hills of Ersal. She was 17-days-old when she came to the hospital on the morning of December 3, ill from the cold. Her tiny body interceded for her at the checkpoint to get to the hospital. There were no empty incubators available, however, “so the hospital sent her inside Lebanon but al-Laboui checkpoint prevented her parents from crossing so she returned to al-Hay’a hospital with its modest capabilities where she passed away at 2:00 pm.” Her tiny body could not take it anymore. Malak died.

Khaled died on December 9 from acute kidney failure. The other five children died due to birth defects in their skulls and limbs, according to Zein. Serious concerns are raised about the reasons behind these birth defects. Zein noticed that at the beginning of the crisis and the influx of refugees, “we used to see one case of congential disease per month. Today, we see four cases per month.” The doctor is not sure about the reason but he said that “a lot of women were in Syria early on in their pregnancy, that’s why I think these congenital diseases are due to substances used in the shelling.”

The medical situation in Ersal is catastrophic, but it has not spurred international organizations to return to the town to save the lives of innocent refugees. Not that long ago, there was a Hepatitis A outbreak in Ersal and more than 150 refugees were infected due to water contamination. Now, Zein said “the mumps is beginning to spread among children as 24 cases of infection were recorded last month. Bad conditions from the cold weather, malnutrition, lack of hygiene and overcrowding in the camps exacerbate health problems leading to testicular, pancreatic and other infections.”

The union of relief and development organizations working in Ersal said the conduct of the Lebanese army varies depending on the security situation but most of the time, it allows drug shipments to pass after inspecting them. Before the clashes that erupted last August (between the Lebanese army on one hand and the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and al-Nusra Front on the other), al-Hay’a hospital was able to procure 90 percent of the drugs it needs. Today, it can barely get 40 percent because of the dangerous commute.

A medical source in the hills of Ersal spoke of the tragic health conditions among the refugees living there. “Some children and women are sick and urgently need to go to Ersal. There are a lot of cases of asthma and bronchitis, not to mention flu and common colds.” There is also a severe shortage of medication among the refugees and one death was recorded during the storm, according to the source.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said it is in constant contact with field hospitals and clinics in Ersal, providing them with drugs and vaccines through its partners. External Relations Assistant at UNHCR in the Bekaa, Lisa Abu Khaled, said the UNHCR transfers critical cases to hospitals that have signed contracts with them, but sometimes parents do not go because the road is dangerous. She refused to acknowledge any deaths except that of a three-year-old girl whose family could not transfer her to the hospital recommended by the UNHCR. The Commission learned of only two cases of the mumps virus. Abu Khaled said there are vaccines for this virus in the Amel Association Clinic in Ersal, as well as in mobile clinics in the town.

Ireland recognizes Palestine as a state as EU vote looms

December 11, 2014 by Nasheman

A Palestinian protester holding her national flag faces Israeli soldiers during a demonstration on the highway between Jerusalem and Jericho on November 28, 2014, against the construction of Israeli settlements in the Jordan Valley and against the plan to relocate Bedoiuns from the central West Bank area. AFP / Abbas Momani

by Al Akhbar

Irish lawmakers urged their government Wednesday to recognize Palestine as a state in a symbolic motion that sailed through parliament unopposed, the latest in a series of similar measures across Europe as the EU parliament holds a crucial vote on Palestine next week.

The Irish move came a day before the Danish parliament gears up to vote on Thursday to recognize Palestine as well.

The non-binding motion agreed by lawmakers in Dublin called on the government to “officially recognize the State of Palestine, on the basis of the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as the capital, as established in UN resolutions.”

This would be “a further positive contribution to securing a negotiated two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” it added.

The government is not bound to follow the motion but Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan said Ireland supported early recognition of a Palestinian state “in principle.”

“We have always supported a viable two-state solution and will continue to support that in any manner and by any means,” Flanagan told parliament.

Despite being proposed by the opposition Sinn Fein party, the motion had cross-party support, dispensing the need for a vote. Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams, who was refused entry to Gaza by Israel during a visit to the region last week, said the motion was about inspiring hope.

“We must stand with the Palestinian and Israeli citizens who want peace – who are taking risks for peace. The passing of this motion is an important contribution to this,” Adams said.

The motion also called on the Irish government to do everything it could internationally to secure “an inclusive and viable peace process.”

European politicians have become more active in pushing for a sovereign Palestine since the collapse of US-sponsored peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority in April, and ensuing conflict in Gaza, where more than 2,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and on the Israeli side, 66 soldiers and six civilians were killed this summer.

“It’s been suggested that recognition now might help jump-start a stalemate process. This was the judgement made by Sweden and indeed it is the spirit of this evening’s motion,” Flanagan said.

The chairperson of the Irish Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Martin O’Quigley, welcomed the move.

“It’s very important, but just as important is for the Irish government to make Israel accountable for what has happened and what is happening in Palestine,” he told AFP.

The Israeli embassy in Dublin said however the motion was premature.

“A vote in favor of this motion, therefore, is a vote for Ireland, a neutral country, to intervene in a foreign conflict in favour of one national movement at the expense of another,” the Embassy said in a statement.

“That is not how peace is brought about.”

Denmark to debate Palestine recognition

Meanwhile, the Danish parliament will debate a motion calling for the recognition of Palestine as a state on Thursday.

Danish MP Holger K. Nielsen, one of the main drivers behind the initiative in Denmark, told Ma’an news agency that the first reading will take place Thursday before a potential vote in the second reading, which could take place in early 2015.

The motion was introduced by the Red-Green Alliance, the Socialist People’s Party (SPP), and Greenland’s Inuit Ataqatigiit, three small left-wing parties. It calls on the government to recognize Palestine as a state within the 1967 borders

“I think there is strength now among European countries tired of Israel’s attitude to negotiations and it is therefore more important now to put pressure on Israel,” Nielsen, a member of the SPP, said.

Nielsen says it will be “difficult” to get a majority in the Danish parliament, which may even vote against it. But he thinks debates like these aim to raise public awareness and have notably changed national attitudes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“Public opinion has changed (in Denmark) today compared to 10 years ago. Our aim is to change the situation so the Danish public understands the conflict.”

A former Danish adviser at the EU parliament told Ma’an that while the vote in Denmark won’t change the realities on the ground, it is a step in the right direction.

“The Danish vote is part of larger picture where a lot of Europeans are getting fed up with Israel’s rejectionism and continued settlement building. Parliaments in a lot of EU countries are reacting to this and putting Palestinian statehood to a vote out of concern for the two-state solution.”

According to PA estimations, around 135 countries have so far recognized the State of Palestine, although the number is disputed and several recognitions by what are now European Union member states date back to the Soviet era.

Ireland’s parliament is the fourth European assembly to call for the recognition of Palestinian statehood since October.

Sweden, who initiated the vote, has gone even further, officially recognizing Palestine as a state in a move that prompted Israel to recall its ambassador.

A week after Sweden’s decision, MPs in Britain voted 274 to 12 for a non-binding motion to “recognize the state of Palestine alongside the state of Israel as a contribution to securing a negotiated two-state solution.”

On November 18, Spanish MPs backed a motion to recognize Palestine as a state following a final-status agreement, while on December 2, French MPs voted 339 to 151 in favor of a motion that invites Paris to recognize the state of Palestine “as an instrument to gain a definitive resolution of the conflict.”

Spain notably changed its wording on the day of the motion following an attack on a Jerusalem synagogue — from recognition as a way to encourage a “negotiated settlement” to recognition following an agreement.

Intense lobbying around EU vote

The Danish debate comes a week before the EU parliament is due to vote on recognizing Palestine as a state on December 17, a motion postponed on November4 27 following reportedly intense pressure by Israeli diplomats.

Spain’s significant rewording of its motion reflects the core split within the EU parliament: using unconditional recognition as a means to address the imbalance between both sides in the peace process, or recognition as a condition of the outcome of talks.

A staffer in the European parliament told Ma’an that the vote was extremely tight at the moment, with signs that there could be no majority for any text at all, a potentially damaging blow for the EU’s role as a serious global actor.

The PA has also notably been absent from lobbying parliament members on the vote, the staffer said, with Israeli civil society actors lobbying passionately in favor of recognition and Israeli diplomats and other actors lobbying intensely against parliamentarians recognizing Palestine.

Whatever the outcome of the vote next week, debate in the EU parliament has been extensive, the staffer added.

EU recognition of Palestine would do little to change the realities of occupation, the former Danish adviser told Ma’an, but it could be taken as a sign of future EU action if Israel continues to maintain the status quo.

New EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, who took office in early November, has been extremely vocal on Palestine and made it a point of calling for a Palestinian state during a visit to Gaza, the first visit in her new position.

Mogherini’s statements together with real measures such as getting tougher on settlements, denying violent settlers access to the EU, and reviewing the extensive trade agreements with Israel could signal meaningful change if the EU recognition vote falls flat, the former adviser added.

Holger Nielsen, the Danish MP, agrees that the EU must use economic means and be stricter on trade policy to really influence the Israeli government’s position.

“It’s difficult, but you have to continue the discussion. Change is coming all the time. Maybe not tomorrow, but I’m sure the only way you can make things change is to maintain this kind of pressure.”

The roots of the Israel-Palestine conflict date back to 1917, when the British government, in the now-famous “Balfour Declaration,” called for “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.”

Israel occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank during the 1967 Middle East War. It later annexed the holy city in 1980, claiming it as the capital of the self-proclaimed Zionist state – a move never recognized by the international community.

In November 1988, Palestinian leaders led by Yasser Arafat declared the existence of a state of Palestine inside the 1967 borders and the state’s belief “in the settlement of international and regional disputes by peaceful means in accordance with the charter and resolutions of the United Nations.”

Heralded as a “historic compromise,” the move implied that Palestinians would agree to accept only 22 percent of historic Palestine, in exchange for peace with Israel. It is now believed that only 17 percent of historic Palestine is under Palestinian control following the continued expansion of illegal Israeli settlements.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) this year set November 2016 as the deadline for ending the Israeli withdrawal from the territories occupied by Israel during the Six-Day War in 1967 and establishing a two-state solution.

It is worth noting that numerous pro-Palestine activists support a one-state solution in which Israelis and Palestinians would be treated equally, arguing that the creation of a Palestinian state beside Israel would not be sustainable. They also believe that the two-state solution, which is the only option considered by international actors, won’t solve existing discrimination, nor erase economic and military tensions.

(AFP, Ma’an, Al-Akhbar)

Palestinian minister dies after being assaulted by Israeli soldier

December 11, 2014 by Nasheman

Ramallah/Ma’an: The head of the Palestinian Authority committee against the separation wall and settlements died Wednesday after Israeli soldiers assaulted him in a village near Ramallah, committee sources said.

Ziad Abu Ein, 55, died after an Israeli soldier beat him on the chest with his helmet in the village of Turmsayya in the Ramallah district, the director of the committee’s information center, Jamil al-Barghouthi, told Ma’an.

Abu Ein also suffered severe tear gas inhalation as Israeli soldiers fired canisters in the area.

A Palestinian security source told AFP that Israeli forces beat Abu Ein with the butts of their rifles and their helmets during a protest march.

He lost consciousness and was taken to Ramallah Public Hospital where he was later pronounced dead.

Medical sources told Ma’an that Abu Ein lost consciousness and that his heart stopped after being beaten by Israeli soldiers and inhaling tear gas.

The Israeli army said in a statement that “approximately 200 rioters gathered in Turmus Ayya, near Ramallah. Forces halted the progress of the rioters into the civilian (Israeli settler outpost) community of Adei-Ad using riot dispersal means.”

It said it was “reviewing the circumstances of the participation of Ziad Abu Ein, and his later death.”

“The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, Maj. Gen. Yoav (Poli) Mordechai, and his Palestinian counterpart, Hussein Al-Sheikh, have agreed that an Israeli pathologist will join a delegation of pathologists from Jordan, for a joint examination of the circumstances of Ziad Abu Ein’s death.

“Additionally, a proposal has been made to the Palestinians to establish a joint investigation team to review the incident.”

A Ma’an reporter said Abu Ein was taking part in a tree-planting project in an area of the village threatened with confiscation.

Dozens of other activists were also taking part in the project.

President Mahmoud Abbas said in a statement that the attack on Abu Ein was a “barbaric action that cannot be ignored or accepted,” adding that actions would be taken to hold Israel accountable.

Abbas condemned all Israeli assaults on Palestinians.

Ziad Abu Ein was a member of the Fatah movement’s Revolutionary Council, and served as undersecretary to the minister of prisoner affairs before Abbas appointed him head of the committee against the separation wall and settlements.

Clashes erupt in Pakistan 'shut down' protest

December 9, 2014 by Nasheman

Supporters of Imran Khan clash with police as they heed his call and attempt to shut down Faisalabad city.

Ex-cricketer Khan called for “shut down” protests to pressure the federal government to step down [AFP]

by Al Jazeera

Police have clashed with hundreds of protesters from the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, who were attempting to shut down the eastern city of Faisalabad as part of its leader Imran Khan’s movement against the federal government.

Police used water cannons, wooden batons and tear gas on Monday against protesters in several areas, including the central Millat Chowk area, local news television footage showed.

The situation remains tense, as supporters of the PTI, also known as the Movement for Justice party, refuse to back down.

Protesters conducted sit-ins at main intersections in the city, a major economic hub, and shouted slogans against the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) government.

They burned tyres and blocked roads, while PML-N workers threw rocks and used wooden batons, prompting owners of businesses in areas where the protests were taking place to shut down their shops.

Small groups of PTI supporters have clashed with PML-N workers as well.

The protest is part of a call Khan made on November 30, calling for “shut down” protests to be held in several Pakistani cities to increase pressure on the PML-N government, before a countrywide strike on December 18.

Khan, a former cricketer, alleges that the PML-N government rigged the 2013 general elections, internationally recognised as largely free and fair, in order to sideline his party.

Since August this year, he has been leading protests around the country calling for Nawaz Sharif to resign as prime minister.

At least 13 killed in failed US bid to rescue hostages

December 9, 2014 by Nasheman

by Reuters

A woman, a 10-year-old boy and a local Al-Qaeda leader were among at least 11 people killed alongside two Western hostages when US-led forces battled militants in a failed rescue mission in Yemen, residents said.

US special forces raided the village of Dafaar in Shabwa province, a militant stronghold in southern Yemen, shortly after midnight on Saturday, killing several members of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

American journalist Luke Somers, 33, and South African teacher Pierre Korkie, 56, were shot and killed by their captors during the raid intended to secure the hostages’ freedom, US officials said.

AQAP, formed in 2006 by the merger of the Yemeni and Saudi branches of the network, has for years been seen by Washington as one of the movement’s most dangerous branches.

Western governments fear an advance by Shi’ite Muslim Houthi fighters.

However, since Islamic State in Syria and Iraq began distributing films of its militants executing Western hostages, the focus on AQAP, which has traditionally used hostage-taking as a way to raise funds, had diminished until now.

At least one Briton and a Turkish man are still held by the group.

“AQAP and Daesh (Islamic State) are essentially the same organisation but have different methods of execution and tactics,” a senior Yemeni intelligence official said on the sidelines of a conference in Bahrain this weekend.

Reports on social media feeds of known militants also said one of those killed was an AQAP commander and two members of the group. Six other people from the same southern Yemen tribe also died, the reports said, although they could not be immediately verified.

Senior US officials have said the raid was carried out by US forces alone, but both Yemen’s government and local residents said Yemeni forces also participated in the raid and engaged militants holding Somers and Korkie.

Seventy Ethiopian migrants drown in shipwreck off the coast of Yemen

December 8, 2014 by Nasheman

by Al Akhbar

Seventy Ethiopian migrants have drowned after their boat sank near the entrance to the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen, the Yemeni Interior Ministry said.

The boat capsized in bad weather off the port city of al-Makha, near the Strait of Bab al-Mandeb, the ministry said in a statement posted on its website Sunday. It did not clarify when the boat sank.

“All those who were on board died,” the statement said, adding that all were from Ethiopia.

Thousands of people fleeing troubled countries in the Horn of Africa try to reach Yemen every year in the hope of making their way on to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf.

On May 31, 60 migrants from Ethiopia and Somalia along with two Yemeni crew members drowned in the worst such tragedy off the coast of Yemen this year, according to the UNHCR.

In the past five years, more than 500,000 people – mostly Eritreans, Ethiopians and Somalis – have reached Yemen via the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea following treacherous journeys on vessels that are often overloaded.

The country is home to up to two million migrants, mostly undocumented, who entered from other countries of the Arabian Peninsula, according to unofficial estimates commonly cited by experts and humanitarian organizations.

In October, the UN’s refugee agency said the number of migrants and asylum seekers from the region losing their lives in an attempt to reach Yemen in 2014 was the highest in years, exceeding the combined total for 2011, 2012 and 2013.

Yemen is the only country in the Arabian Peninsula that is signatory to two international accords dating back to 1951 and 1967 governing the protection of refugees.

It currently hosts 246,000 refugees, of whom more than 230,000 are from Somalia and a smaller number from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Iraq and Syria, according to UNHCR figures.

(AFP, Al-Akhbar)

U.S meddling to blame for ‘all Arab world sufferings’ – Sudan president

December 8, 2014 by Nasheman

Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir (Reuters / Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah)

by RT

The bloody conflicts in Iraq, Syria and Libya are the result of the interference by the US, which wants to gain control over the rich natural resources of those countries, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir told RT.

“The people in Sudan believe that the since the fall of the Soviet Union [in 1991], injustice and oppression has prevailed around the globe as the US became the sole hegemon and began running things with impunity in many regions, including ours,” Bashir said.

In his interview with RT’s Arabic Channel, the Sudanese president labeled Washington’s policies in Middle East and North Africa as “harmful and destructive.”

“Just look at what’s now happening in Iraq and how it spread to Syria. All the suffering that is going in the Arab world is the work of the US,” he said.

The events in Iraq, Syria and Libya “are the result of the US, the Western meddling; it’s a manifestation of colonialism, which has just one aim to it – establishing control over the region and its natural resources,” Bashir said.

Sudan is constantly coming under pressure from international organizations “due to its firm stance, which is antagonistic toward US policies in the region,” he said.

In the most recent example, Bashir pointed to a UN/African Union Mission investigation into the claims by opposition radio that 200 female residents of the village of Tabit in war-torn Darfur region were raped in November.

The first inquiry revealed that no such crime took place, but “the hegemon [the US] was dissatisfied with such a conclusion and ordered another check,” the president said.

“As for the second investigation, we’re confident that there’s already a report on it prepared beforehand in Washington or New York,” he stressed.

The Tabit investigation, as well as the ongoing International Criminal Court (ICC) inquiry into genocide and crimes against humanity during the War in Darfur “are attempts to break the will of the Sudanese,”Bashir said.

“We’re talking about regime change in Sudan to put in power the new regime that would obey the West,”he said.

The president also called the ICC in The Hague “one of the tools of neo-colonialism, which is trying to [subdue] smaller countries, especially, the ones in Africa.”

“This court is based in Europe, but it only passes judgment on the Africans,” Bashir said.

The war between the government and the militias, accusing the regime of oppression against Sudan’s non-Arabs, began in the country’s western region of Darfur in 2003.

According to UN estimates, the bloody conflict took over 300,000 lives and saw 2 million people displaced. Sudanese authorities put the death toll at around 10,000.

Bashir has been re-elected three times since becoming Sudan’s president since in a 1989 bloodless coup.

In November, he announced that he’ll run for office again in the next election, which scheduled to take place in the country in April.

Rich nations 'failing to help Syria refugees'

December 6, 2014 by Nasheman

Rights group says “pitiful” number taken in by wealthy countries, with burden placed mainly on ill-equipped neighbours.

A baby looks out from the window of a bus after disembarking from a crippled freighter carrying hundreds of refugees trying to migrate to Europe, at the coastal Cretan port of Ierapetra, Nov. 27. AP Photo

by Al Jazeera

Affluent nations have taken in a “pitiful” number of the million of Syrian refugees uprooted by the country’s civil war, placing the burden on Syria’s ill-equipped neighbours, according to Amnesty International.

The London-based rights group, in advance of a December 9 donors’ conference in Geneva, deplored on Friday what it called the shocking failure of rich nations to host refugees.

“Around 3.8 million refugees from Syria are being hosted in five main countries within the region: Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt,” Amnesty International said in the statement.

Highlighting what it referred to as “the pitiful numbers of resettlement places offered by the international community”, the group said that Russia, China and the Gulf Arab states had not offered a single location for resettlement of refugees.

Meanwhile, the European Union as a whole, excluding Germany, has pledged to take in only 0.17 percent of refugees residing in countries bordering Syria.

“The shortfall … is truly shocking,” said Sherif Elsayed-Ali, Amnesty International’s head of refugee and migrants’ rights.

“The complete absence of resettlement pledges from the Gulf is particularly shameful. Linguistic and religious ties should place the Gulf states at the forefront of those offering safe shelter.”

The failure of wealthy nations to share the burden had placed a increasing strain on host countries, which were largely ill-equipped for the influx of people escaping violence in Syria.

Amnesty International said it was calling for the resettlement of five percent of Syria’s refugees by the end of 2015, and an additional five percent the following year.

The plan would accommodate approximately 380,000 refugees identified by the UN as being particularly vulnerable including lone children and torture survivors.

“Countries cannot ease their consciences with cash pay-outs then simply wash their hands of the matter,” Ali said.

“Those with the economic means to do so must play a greater role.”

In addition to those who fled the war-ravaged country as external refugees, the UN says more than seven million Syrians are internally displaced.

The refugees face poverty, illness and growing tensions with host communities in their already-impoverished temporary homes.

Syria’s civil war began in March 2011, escalating into a bloody civil war that has displaced around half the country’s population.

Halal food market stands at $2 trillion worldwide

December 5, 2014 by Nasheman

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the OIC’s head Iyad Madani during the opening ceremony of ICCI meeting in Istanbul.

by Abdul Hannan Tago, Arab News

Riyadh: Halal food products stand at $2 trillion globally with Muslim countries accounting for $700 billion, according to a communique issued by the Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) during its meeting held in Istanbul (Turkey).

ICCI adopted its budget for 2015 during its 20th session recently in Istanbul which was attended by Turkey Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Organizations of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Secretary-General Iyad Amin Madani.

The summit, which also featured the Palestine Trade and Business Expo, looked at resolutions and explored ways of boosting membership and financial resources through an appropriate mechanism.

ICCI’s finance committee also had its 53rd session during which they agreed on the proposed budget for the 2015 project. It discussed the committee’s report for the promotion of an organic meeting and the development of the chambers resources, which was held in Jeddah last June, in addition to a brief report on the chamber’s activities and future events.

The meeting of the Finance Committee, held under the chairmanship of Omar Bahlaiwa, secretary general of the International Trade Commission, focused on a number of issues related to the revitalization of organic development of the ICCI financial resources.

The ICCI’s council session, held under the chairmanship of Saleh Kamel, discussed, among other issues, halal food and its significance for Muslims as recognized by ICCI. This includes the issuance of certificates for the products with a certain fee due to the volume of trade in halal products around the world.

The commission concluded with a number of resolutions, including the need to accelerate the implementation of the agreed recommendations, such as organizing a forum of the private sector and investors in one of the member countries annually to realize the appropriate financial revenue in support of the ICCI.

The annual forum will also organize exhibitions on the sidelines of every forum, and work to create a commercial arbitration center with the formulation of rules along the lines of the arbitration rules of the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) with the preparation of data and terms of the arbitrators of each member chambers.

The Istanbul recommendations also included the possibility of adopting trademarks of the ICCI’s products, halal certificates, trade shows and other proposed projects to achieve added value and as a means to enhance the ICCI resources.

The council agreed to convene the next session of both the assembly and the board of directors of the Islamic Chamber in Uganda from April 25 to 27.