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24 Sha'ban 1441 A.H. - April 19 2020 Issue # 16, Newsletter #1859



Latest Khutba

 Dr Kaukab Siddique

Strive & Struggle. Islam Does not teach us to Wait for a Savior.

On April 17, Br. Kaukab Siddique gave the juma khutba at masjid Jamaat al-Muslimeen. The attendance was thin owing to orders issued by the
Governor of Maryland.

Texts
Or do you think that you shall enter Paradise without such (trials) as came to those who passed away before you? They were afflicted with suffering and adversity, and were so shaken in spirit that even the Messenger and those who believed along with him said, "When will the help of Allah come?" ~ Quran 2:214

O Prophet, struggle against the rejectors and the hypocrites and be harsh upon them. And their refuge is Hell, and wretched is their destination.
- Qur'an 9:73

I heard the Messenger of Allah say, "Whoever of you sees an evil must change it with his hand. If he is not able to do so, then [he must change it ] with his words. And if he is not able to do so, then [he must change it] with his heart. And that is the lowest level of faith."


-Sahih Muslim. Narrated by Abu Saeed al-Khudri, r.a.

Here is an outline of the khutba:
May Allah bless us this Ramadan and accept our fasting:

  1. The world we live in is full of injustice, oppression and poverty. The oppressors took control of the world and installed their favorites in key positions.

  2. Muslims are still trying to follow the teachings of Islam but the version of Islam we now have is like the skeleton of Islam, barely visible as the original, authentic Islam brought by Muhammad, pbuh, to complete and perfect the teachings of Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus, Allah's blessings be on all of them.

  3. Once, to a particular audience, the Prophet, pbuh, taught what we call the Five pillars of Islam. Muslims made the five pillars the central aspects of Islam. What was meant to be a means to an end became Islam in its entirety.

  4. The Quran, the word of Allah, does not give the FIVE PILLARS as if it is Islam itself. Almost all the bigger surahs of Islam teach a message which most nMuslims in America consider "dangerous." The one word which is central to Islam is Jihad.

  5. It could be peaceful striving through da'wah and sharing of the best teachings we have or it could be armed struggle against oppressors, against those who physically attack Islam and , those who occupy Muslim countries, who terrorize Muslim populations, who install tyrants and dictators among us.

  6. Muslims no longer take responsibility for what is going on in the world. Instead of organizing, mobilizing and defending the ummah who are soft targets for the imperialists and Zionists, we wait for a savior.

  7. This concept of the savior is not part of the Qur'an. In fact it negates the Qur'an and the authentic hadith.

    1. One sect which is now in power in Iran wants Muslims to await the arrival of a hidden Mehdi, a savior who disappeared as a chiild more than a thousand years back! Is it in the Qur'an: NO!

    2. Among the majority too the concept of the mehdi is prevalent. It is based on 13 "hadith narrativres." Great scholars like Ibn Khaldun have shown that these narratives are fabricated and/or zaif. Is this kind of lesser mehdi in the Qur'an? NO!

    3. Finally, and the most persuasive of all is the idea borrowed wholesale from Christianity that Jesus, pbuh, will return and fill the world with justice! The supporters of this concept point to a hadith narrated by Abu Huraira, r.a. and two other younger sahaba.


  8. The second coming of Jesus is not in the Qur'an though some scholars try to interpret one verse to support that thesis. However Faith, Heaven and Hell are not based on interpretations but on clear, unambiguus, teachings.

  9. The Qur'an clearly states what is the Islamic belief system. Read 2:177. Belief in the return of Jesus , pbuh, is not in it.

  10. Now go the chapers on Faith, kitab al-Iman, in books of hadith. None of them teach that we should believe in the Second Coming of Jesus, pbuh.

  11. The leaders of the Ummah, after Muhammad, pbuh, khulafa e rashidoon, Abu Bakr, Umar, Usman and Ali, may Allah be pleased with them, did not teach any second coming.

  12. Finally, the Ushra Mubashira, the 12 great Companions of the Prophet, pbuh, whom the Prophet, pbuh, taught during their life time that they would be given Paradise, did not teach the Second Coming.

  13. So dear Muslims, we must change the world through our own striving. No one is going to come down from heaven to do it for us.


May Allah forgive our sins and our shortcomings. Ameen.





PAKISTAN

 Pakistan

Islamabad.
Red Mosque & Women Defiant.


Pakistanis are defying the rules issued by Imran Khan to control the Covid 19.

However the regime is trying in particular to suppress the Red Mosque, Women's Seminary Jamia Hafsa. This masjid is drawing large crowds and the regime is charging its leader Maulana Abdul Aziz with criminal offenses.

Their web site and transmissions have been blocked and the press publishing their paper has been seized.

However young women in hijab lay down on the ground in front of police forces trying to enter the masjid. A large crowd in support of the masjid gathered and police withdrew complaining of danger of possibility of break down of law and order.





War News

 War News

Syria
Latest news: April 17, 2020 ISIS forces entered the city of Al-Sukhnah.


The two articles below indicate the success of the latest ISIS offensive in eastern Syria as seen by researchers hostile to ISIS and sympathetic to Assad.

ISIS activity in Syria
al-Monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/04/syria-east-deser-islamic-state-attacks-regime-iran.html
Dozens killed in ISIS attack.
TheNational.ae/world/mena/dozens-killed-in-isis-attack-on-syrian-town-in-homs-province-1.1004253

Although it is an overused phrase, ISIS clearly never went away. The organization adapted quickly to its loss of territory and after several months of costly battles targeting urban centers in southern Deir Ez Zor, it efficiently shifted to more classic insurgent attacks striking the entirety of the Badia. ISIS has successfully employed IEDs (including suicide vehicle-borne IEDs) and anti-tank guided missiles, and even continued its use of DIY drone bombs to strike regime-controlled gas and oil infrastructure. These attacks have only grown in strength over time, with the widest geographical reach of attacks occurring over the past year. Despite the regime's reclamation of Jabal Bishri, ISIS remains unhindered.

Crucial for both ISIS's freedom to operate and Damascus' inability to properly counter this insurgency is the reportedly high degree of local support for ISIS and the porous border with Iraq, through which more manpower is able to enter Syria. This second point is particularly important because the SAA currently regards the region from southeast Sukhnah to the Iraqi border as no-man's land. If Damascus is serious about stopping ISIS attacks, it must secure this area, but without also losing control of the Jabal Bishri and north Sukhnah region. Judging by the regime's actions over the past two years, there is little chance that it can do so.

Research by the Counter Terrorism and Extremism Program lead by Charles Lister, Waters and others in that group.

[Special thanks to Br. Athar.[





News Within the U.S.

 News within the US

Without a Face Mask, it can be bad for you. Most people don't have Face Masks.
by Sis. Aisha [Jamaat al-Muslimeen]

On April 13th, a black man was dragged off of a Philadelphia SEPTA bus by three transit officers for not wearing a mask. And, he fought to stay on that bus. The City of Philadelphia had just started requiring their public transportation riders to wear face masks. He was not wearing a mask and when the bus driver asked him to leave he refused so, the police were called.

After that disturbing video of this violent incident was distributed on social media, the City of Philadelphia changed its policy from a requirement to an urging of people to wear masks. However, in a very questionable move, Governor Andrew Cuomo has now made it law for people to wear masks in New York State.

The Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) decided that as of 8pm April 17th, they would require that straphangers, using either the subway or buses, wear masks. Interim MTA President Sarah Feinberg sent MTA subscribers the new policy via email. Many people, including MTA employees, already wear masks and gloves to protect themselves from COVID-19. Many of public service employees have been contracting and succumbing to COVID-19, unfortunately.

But, my response to Sarah Feinberg was for her to supply riders with the masks. Many people do not have access to masks, How can they require people to have something so difficult to get, right now?

The Philly Transit Riders Union was critical of SEPTA for having the non-compliant rider removed so violently from a bus but, recently, they tweeted a "thank you" message to SEPTA for providing free masks to riders.

In New Jersey, non-compliant people are being arrested. However, stores are imposing their own mask-wearing policies and are having customers who refuse to wear them arrested.

So far, New York, New Jersey, and Maryland are the only states requiring the wearing of face masks.

This is an effort to reopen the economy. Many people have already begun receiving their stimulus checks. So, come on out! It is time to spend that money!

People want to see their sports teams play. It'll be Summer, soon! Once this mask-wearing measure came into effect some stores, such as CVS, allowed customers to come in and shop freely without having to wait on a line outside the store.

The question is are they doing this for our safety? Are they simply waiting for people with COVID-19 to die or overcome the disease? Will the U.S.A. Become like China and other Asian countries where it is now customary to wear masks in public?

I have no confidence in this waiting game if things are going to return back to the way they were before COVID-19 became a threat here. Now, the U.S. COVID-19 deaths have surpassed the rest of the world's combined.

Many health experts have stated that you cannot stop a virus so, you have to let it run its course. The body has been equipped with defense mechanisms that fight off bacteria and viruses unless there are additional complications. You can take remedies that aid the body in those defenses unless the doctor says it conflicts with any prescribed medicine. Most of the people succumbing to the coronavirus have additional illnesses. Preventive measures are best.

(Sources: NYTimes.com & Yahoo.com)




Many Cities in the U.S. Protest Coronavirus Restrictions.
Here in Maryland, close to where New Trend is based, hundreds of protesters clogged the city's streets in a parade of cars in protest of restrictions on the economy brought about by the governor in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

 ReOpen Maryland Rally

"More people die from poverty than this coronavirus. We grieve those losses, they are real lives, but so are all these people who are suffering," said organizer Evie Harris, a Baltimore-area nurse.

But the decision to close all non-essential businesses to mitigate its spread resulted in sharp economic losses and severe consequences that many protesters fear will be lasting.

Nearly 22 million people filed unumployment across the country.

"If I don't get back to work, I can't live. I have no money coming in," said Dolores Garrity, a Kent Island resident who owns a small hair salon with four employees in Crofton.

"It's either die from the coronavirus if you catch it or die from not being able to live," Garrity, 61, said.

Protests also happening Michegan to Kentucky: YouTu.be/H0OOqq29Ios





Invitation to Think

 Invitation to Think

Covid 19
Holistic Hygiene - the Only Answer to Infectious Diseases

by Dr. Javed Jamil.

The Covid-19 pandemic has forced the world to take some hygienic measures with extreme seriousness. What is extraordinary in these measures is that rather than leaving it to the individuals, the governments are enforcing them. Unfortunately though, similar concerns were not shown in the wake of HIV pandemic when unhygienic sexual practices (promiscuity, prostitution, homosexuality, ec) were creating havoc all over the world. No concept like "sexual distancing" similar to the currently in vogue "Social distancing" was proposed then. This is despite the fact that more than 38 million people have died of AIDS in the last 25 years. If we think over the infectious diseases in general and viral epidemics in particular, we will have no option but to conclude that hygiene has a much larger scope than what is normally believed and practiced as hygiene. And if we include other non-infectious major killers of the world (like alcohol), we will have to further expand it developing a holistic regime of hygiene. This is exactly what I tried to develop in my book, "Economics First or Health First?" (published in 2019), the work that argued for implementing Dynamic Paradigm of Health in the international system of affairs if life is to survive and become healthy and peaceful.

If we want total health, we need a purer world; if we want a purer world, we need total hygiene. Hygiene is currently being used in a very limited sense. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), "Hygiene refers to conditions and practices that help to maintain health and prevent the spread of diseases. Medical hygiene therefore includes a specific set of practices associated with this preservation of health, for example environmental cleaning, sterilization of equipment, hand hygiene, water and sanitation and safe disposal of medical waste."1

It is clear that the WHO definition mainly refers to external physical hygiene and can hardly be described a definition of comprehensive hygiene. If we want to have comprehensive plan of hygiene, we will have to include the following:



But this holistic regime will have hardly any takers because of the interests of the forces of economics and politics. External Physical Hygiene is of utmost importance for the market forces because it suits them. Internal Physical hygiene, mental hygiene, sexual hygiene and social hygiene have no meaning for them, as these can pose serious threats to their vested interests. If internal hygiene is promoted, tobacco and alcohol industries will nosedive; if sexual hygiene is applied, many industries including film, pornography, prostitution and tourism will become defunct; and if a campaign for social hygiene ensues, gambling industries will perish. For the forces of economics, it is the health of industries, not that of human beings, that matters more. Let people suffer, but under no circumstances market can be allowed to suffer. Let the people be killed, families be disintegrated, tensions of all kinds plague society, but the interests of the corporate must never be allowed to be killed; slump must not disintegrate them and non-growth must not plague them.

Natural Primary versus Artificial Primary Prevention
Normally prevention is classified as Primary and Secondary, Primary involving prevention before he emergence of the diseases and Secondary involving further prevention after the disease has emerged. I have further classified Primary Prevention into Natural and Artificial. Natural Primary prevention can be defined as the avoidance of such activities and attempts to prevent such environmental conditions to emerge and grow as may be conducive to the development of diseases. Artificial Primary Prevention can be defined as the prevention of diseases through use of certain materials, medical products, vaccines, or equipment. Pharmaceuticals thrive on the spread of diseases, and so do the doctors, the owners of nursing homes and hospitals and paramedical personnel. Natural Prevention has therefore been able to grasp much less attention than Artificial Prevention and management; because Natural Primary Prevention is perilous for their commercial interests. The latter has received greater attention, because it is benefi­cial for the industries. While the mouth hygiene and body hy­giene are emphasised upon as these propel the sales of thousands of varieties of tooth-brushes, tooth-pastes, lotions, soap, sanitary pads etc., a term like 'sexual hygiene' (except of course the use of condoms) has found no mention anywhere. The result is that, while all other infections in the US (and most other developed countries) have shown remarkable decrease in the last half century, Sex transmitted diseases are on the rise. Out of the top 10 infections in the US, five are STDs and about every fifth of adult has a STD. More than 15 million Americans contract STD annually. These are staggering figures for a superpower that has the biggest medical network in the world. If Sexual Hygiene were popularised, the sex-market could have crashed. Even the Hotel, Food, Garments and tourism industries would have suffered. Hence, only the artificial preventive methods that invariably advocate the use of condoms were chosen to allay the fears of the promiscuous and the pervert and those coming in their contact. The odour emanating from the mouth of a person not properly brushing his teeth gives sleepless nights to the industries, but the foul smell from the mouth of smokers and drinkers have never caused any alarm. The health of mouth and skin (that is to be kept healthy through creams, lotions and powders) has always kept them worried but not that of liver, heart, brain and lungs. The death and destruction on a much greater scale due to alcoholism have never bothered them. Similarly, the problems due to the steady increase in human population has been a matter of huge importance necessitating world-wide campaign, but the much greater and severer problems owing to the rapid increase in the population of vehicles have not even come to their notice. Such indeed has been the perfection with which the economic fundamentalists have been promoting their plans that their interests can easily be visualised in almost all the campaigns being pushed by the governments or international agen­cies.

To sum up, the modern approach towards health is to promote artificial prevention of diseases requiring the use of certain materials produced by the market, like toothpastes, creams, vaccines of different types, condoms, jellies, etc. Natural Primary prevention involving ban on harmful practices like alcohol, unhealthy sexual behaviours, prostitution, promiscuity, smoking, gambling, etc. has no takers, as such a strategy of prevention would imperil the interests of the market. The Dynamic Paradigm of Health however proposed by me presents a holistic regime of hygiene.

This holistic approach has the following components:

Natural Primary Prevention

It will be involving active measures, involving Legal, Executive and Social measures to stop harmful practices like alcohol, unhealthy sexual behaviours, prostitution, promiscuity, smoking, gambling, etc. Items and practices that are unhealthy by their very nature or become natural habitat for infections cannot be allowed to be available to the people on the pretext of Freedom of Choice. Allow good choices not the dangerous choices!

Artificial Primary Prevention

It will support all the health-protective measures like vaccines, safe drinking water, condoms in special circumstances and use of pastes and creams. But these should not undermine the importance of Natural Primary Prevention and should only have an additional role.

Treatment and Management

Treatment and Management including all its dimensions will of course remain the mainstay of treating the diseases. However, again, as part of the follow-up, Natural Prevention is to be stressed wherever it can help in stopping the recurrence of the diseases.


It can be seen that most of the measures related to Natural Primary prevention are not going to be easily accepted or promoted by the forces of globalisation. Artificial preventive measures are aggressively promoted and Natural prevention is not given its due. The current international paradigm of health is therefore an incomplete programme, which makes serious compromises on health for the sake of the dominant forces.

This also explains why Pulse Polio Campaign has been run at an unprecedented level in the last three decades throughout the Third World while campaigns against diseases like Malaria and Tuberculosis have lagged far behind both in pace and intensity. This is despite the fact that while Polio hardly kills anybody and only paralyses a few thousands, Tuberculosis and Malaria kill millions of people every year. But as anti-tubercular and anti-malarial drugs are manufactured by the Pharmaceutical industry, they have no interest in pursuing campaigns that would reduce their incidence. If these diseases are controlled through preventive methods by the governmental agencies and other organisations, the sales of the medicines will suffer a huge loss. In contrast, polio has no treatment available in the market. It has only vaccines as a preventive measure. The industrialists know it very well that the masses are more inclined to spend money for treating a problem rather than preventing it. It is therefore more expedient, they calculate, to sell vaccines through the governmental and other agencies. Not only will this ensure greater sales of vaccines but will also ensure the utilisation of governmental funds in industry-friendly activities. In this way, the money they give as taxes will be used indirectly for their own benefits.

"Dynamic Paradigm of Health"
Holistic Hygiene is a part of "Dynamic Paradigm of Health" that I have proposed. It gives a Holistic Definition of Health, which is as follows:

"Health is a state of complete physical, mental, spiritual and social wellbeing, which must be safeguarded not only through the maintenance of a health preserving regime at the personal/individual level, but also through the establishment of a health-protective and health-promoting family system and a health-protective and health-promoting social system."

Interestingly, in the wake of Covid-19 outbreak, for the first time the system appears to be functioning as an actively health-protective system. People are not being left with the option of living with their own freedom of choices but are being forced to follow a strict regime. The same health-protective philosophy has o be adopted if a long term plan on maintaining health has to be put in place. Individuals cannot be left with their own health-protective options. The system will have to be health-protective withholding those choices that are inherently dangerous for life.

Therapeutic Sociology
This approach will also require a change in the philosophy of community medicine. The current international curriculum of medicine has Social and Preventive Medicine also known as Community Medicine as one its chief disciplines. This subject studies the statistics related to the various diseases, the factors associated with its spread, how to respond to widespread medical problems at a large scale like epidemics and endemics and how to prevent them. The public health programmes like Population Control/Reproductive & Child Health, vaccination programmes for diseases like Tetanus, Diphtheria, Pertussis, Meningitis, Hepatitis, Bird Flu, Chicken pox, Polio, etc, anti-mosquito drives, Tuberculosis and Leprosy control programmes and the Programme for control of HIV/AIDS come under the Community Medicine. This is also taught as one of the subjects in the medical degree courses all over the world as well as a postgraduate course. With the march of "globalisation", community health too has gone "global".

The basic problem with the Community Medicine is that it focuses only on finding medical solutions to the medical problems created by social reasons. There is hardly any talk of finding social solutions to medical problems caused by social practices of different kinds. When the forces of economic fundamentalism contemplated that the population should not be allowed to grow at the current speed if their model of "growth" has to succeed, the medical experts were approached, and they began to put all their energies in finding medical ways to control the population. When the market forces embarked upon the "sexual revolution" that required protection of men and women against pregnancies and sex transmitted diseases, the medical fraternity was quick to provide all kinds of solutions. The social transformation was being pushed through in accordance with the demands of the market, which more often than not brought new diseases to the epidemiological levels. While formulating the laws of the country, economics was given the chief consideration and health became an easy victim. There is now a need to change the whole concept of Community Medicine. The focus must now be shifted to finding social solutions to problems arising out of social practices or changes. Instead of being the only solution, the medical solutions should be an important supplement to the social solutions. I have named this approach as Therapeutic Sociology.

Therapeutic Sociology is not a passive concept like Community Medicine. It is an aggressive and dynamic concept that has an overriding and overpowering influence on all the other aspects of social life, both governmental and non-governmental. It will not be a mere spectator to what is happening or developing on the earth but would pose a challenge to the dangerous ideas and practices. The primary purpose of human living is to avoid death and disease and promote a healthy being, and this primary objective must never be lost sight of in the glitter of the market. Therapeutic Sociology would be a wall in the way of the forces that care little for the masses and exploit their weaknesses for their own ends. Therapeutic Sociology will conduct health impact studies of all the developments taking place, and will then suggest suitable remedial changes in legal, social and medical structure to stop the march of the diseases and deaths. It will also help in developing a "healthy morality" aimed at ensuring health and peace in society in place of "commercial morality".

To sum up, the aims of Therapeutic Sociology will be:



Dynamic Paradigm of Health needs to be applied to:



The Covid-19 outbreak has provided the world an opportunity to follow a more aggressive path to ensure survival and high standards of life. Market forces and he political forces cannot be allowed to dictate the health programmes and the philosophies behind them. Life and health need to be seated and remain in the driver's seat without any break.

* Dr Javed Jamil is a thinker, physician, poet and writer with over twenty books to his credit including his latest, "Economics First or Health First?", "The Devil of Economic Fundamentalism", "The Killer Sex". "In Search of a Comprehensive Solution for AIDS", "Islam and Family Planning" and "Rediscovering the Universe". He is currently holds Chair in Yenepoya (Deemed to be) University, Mangalore, Karnataka (India). He can be contacted at doctorforu123@yahoo.com .





Guidance by Sis. Yasmin.

'Bismillah Walhamdulillah Was SalaatuWas Salaam 'ala Rasulillah'..
***********************************************************************
'As-Salaam Alaikum Wa-Rahmatullahi Wa-Barakatuhu'.
'Do they not see that they are tried every year once or twice but then they
do not repent nor do they remember '?
{Source~'Qur'an'~ Surat At Tawbah ~ 9~ A # 126.}

 no work

 Sis Yasmin

~My 'Salaams' to all~

~Y a s m i n ~





Hadith of the Week

Narrated by
'Abdullah bin 'Amr, r.a. The Prophet said,
"A Muslim is the one who avoids harming Muslims with his tongue and hands. And a Muhajir (emigrant) is the one who gives up all what Allah has forbidden."

Bukhari Volume 001, Book 002, Hadith Number 009.
 Sis Kristi

[With thanks to Sis. Kristi]





 Word Around The Net

by Br. Nazeer, Texas

For Palestinians, solidarity amid pandemic invokes spirit of the intifada
MiddleEastEye.net/news/coronavirus-palestine-solidarity-intifada-spirit

Saudi scholar calls for expulsion of Hindu supremacists from the Gulf
MiddleEastMonitor.com/20200417-saudi-scholar-calls-for-expulsion-of-hindu-supremacists-from-the-gulf

Mass graves to bury unclaimed bodies of those who have died in New York City
NPR.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/10/831875297/burials-on-new-york-island-are-not-new-but-are-increasing-during-pandemic

Turkey's coronavirus cases highest in the Middle East
ArabNews.com/node/1661656/middle-east

First flight of NASA astronauts from U.S. soil in nine years will launch on May 27.
Space.com/spacex-crew-dragon-nasa-astronauts-demo-2-launch-date.html

Israeli Authorities Seal off Two Palestinian Communities in Israel Due to Coronavirus Outbreak
PalestineChronicle.com/israeli-authorities-seal-off-two-palestinian-communities-in-israel-due-to-coronavirus-outbreak

Turkey blocks Saudi and Emirati state news websites after Saudi Arabia blocked Turkish media earlier this month
alJazeera.com/news/2020/04/turkey-blocks-saudi-emirati-state-news-websites-200419112800587.html

Inside one of Turkey's largest people-smuggling rings. Fraud, extortion and drug addiction fuel the organised groups taking refugees from Turkey into Europe
MiddleEastEye.net/news/turkey-syrian-refugees-smuggling-fraud-extortion-addiction-run-show

Coronavirus Cases Continue To Climb In The U.S. And Around The World
NPR.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/19/838121359/coronavirus-cases-continue-to-climb-in-the-u-s-and-around-the-world

Political Prisoners :

AhmedAbdelSattar.org

FreeZiyadYaghi.info

FreeMasoudKhan.net

Civil Discord Show






INDIA

Intelligence agent who came to Canada allegedly to disrupt Sikh and Muslim communities

YouTube.com/watch?v=GWfuq11x17Q by Sikh activist Harjeet Singh Aulukh

Note from Editor:
he has a sense of humor - if you know Punjabi, it's worth watching!





 Palestinian Fishermen

Israeli Forces Open Fire at Palestinian Fishermen, Farmers in Gaza

Israeli forces opened fire today at Palestinian fishermen sailing off the Gaza Strip and at farmers, to the east of Khan Younis in two separate incidents, said local sources.

Israeli navy opened fire on fishermen despite sailing within the unilaterally designated fishing zone offshore Gaza City, causing damage to at least one boat.

Meanwhile, Israeli soldiers stationed at military watchtowers along the Gaza perimeter fence to the east of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, opened random fire toward Palestinian farmers as they were working in their own farms. No injuries were reported.

Gaza, with a population of 2 million, has been under a hermetic Israeli siege since 2006, when the Palestinian group Hamas won the democratic legislative elections in occupied Palestine. Since then, Israel has carried out numerous bombing campaigns and several major wars, that resulted in the death of thousands of people.

Israeli forces routinely target Palestinian farmers and fishermen, despite the fact that this constitutes a blatant violation of international agreements and human rights.

Source:
PalestineChronicle.com/israeli-forcesopen-fire-at-fishermen-farmers-in-gaza





 Uyghurs

Persecuted Uighur Population In China At Risk Of Coronavirus Exposure In Xinjiang Camps

Threat Of Starvation, Death Elevated By Conditions Imposed By Chinese Communist Party

(New York, N.Y.) - China's continued detention of more than one million Uighur's in what U.S. officials have called "concentration camps" has put the persecuted population at heightened risk of contracting the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. More than 50 coronavirus cases have been reported in the northeastern region of Xinjiang. Many worry the camp-like conditions make social distancing implausible.

Uighur communities, who already face gross human rights abuses at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), have not been able to prepare for COVID-19, putting millions at risk for starvation, illness, and death. According to the McCain Institute, the CCP has also been accused of forcing Uighurs to labor in factories across the country to make up for laborers in quarantine. Since the beginning of the year, a large number of Uighurs have reportedly "graduated" from the camps and have been assigned to work in factories dedicated to manufacturing for 83 multinational corporations.

Following international condemnation of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) camps in July of 2019, Chinese officials claimed that they released the majority of the detainees. The U.S., experts on China, and ethnic Uighur Muslims contested the claim. The CCP has not offered convincing evidence of those mass releases claimed last year, and it is reported that people who had been freed effectively remained in captivity as many were forced into labor programs instead.

In the past, Chinese authorities have claimed the detention campaign against this minority group stemmed from the idea that extremist religious ideology, often promulgated over the Internet, has corrupted the Uighurs in Xinjiang, prompting many to pursue separatism through terrorist means. Beginning in early 2017, China implemented broad campaigns in the XUAR under the guise of countering extremism. In April of 2017, the XUAR government mandated "re-education" programs for members of ethnic minority communities and students who study overseas in an effort to better "assimilate" back into Chinese society. Citing terrorism concerns, authorities in the XUAR required all residents to install a surveillance application on smart phones that automatically detects "terrorist and illegal" religious videos, images, e-books, and electronic documents.

Source:
CounterExtremism.com/press/persecuted-uighur-population-china-risk-coronavirus-exposure-xinjiang-camps counterextremism





 Africa

Lagos

LEADERSHIP INEPTITUDE AND INTERNET OPPORTUNISTS

By Abdulkabir Oyemomi

I ransacked my library to choose the most suitable book to read for this free period: fiction? politics ? leadership or motivational?

I had chosen John Grisham's 'The Chamber" which happens to be my favourite in my Grisham's collection but something told me to go for 'My Vision'!

' My Vision' was originally written in Arabic by Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum ,the vice president of UAE and the ruler of Dubai ( don't know what he is now). Every page of this book makes me sorry for the masses of this country, most especially the educated illiterates. In summary, as economically viable as UAE is Mohammed still believes the leadership needs to realize that there's no room for hesitation about the speed to actualize many ideas.

To begin with, my choice of words around the title of this piece in relation to ineptitude of our leaders is for want of better word and because I am not ready to give my time to this as such(just pass the message across and go back to reading) because our leaders truly know what they are doing if they refuse to listen to the yearnings of many reasonable callers to true self determination. They cannot risk it !

We have people that are exceptionally brilliant amongst those who wield authority; some of them are first class graduates of reputable Universities, some of them have certifications in virtually all fields of human endeavor. Yet, parochialism has rendered all these beautiful instruments impotent.

My real targets here are political jobbers and other charlatans who come on internet to echo everything said by government or government agencies . See, many of you do not know what it really takes to be supporters or fans of a government. Many of you people are hypocritical warriors on internet and cursers in the real life. Stop the fake life!

Those of you that are vomiting and castigating the anti 5G advocates are really confused. Kindly tell me the potential harms in mellowing down on such projects for our dear country for now. How many indigenous projects have you written or spoken in favour as vehemently as you're doing for imported 5G. If your answer is none, you can start measuring the length of your myopia!

The nub of your oblivion is your erroneous thoughts that castigating your loved political hero is like washing their dirty linens in public. You're very wrong! Criticisms from fans is what actually make true leaders see clearer. Unlike those from fault finders who want them fail ab-initio.

I love PMB immeasurably but I know there is level at which honest mistakes are pardonable. So I am naturally duty bound to let his adminstration feel that the price for slow or belated actions is unredeemable hatred. I want his administrationto be a matter of ' repsa loquito' by the time he hands over the government, meaning that I want his aids and we his lovers to have less to say while his achievements do most of the talkings.

Ultimately, we all have to go back to the drawing board and come with propositions that will push this government to a lot of realizations.

2020-04-20 Mon 11:33:54 ct

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