Miracle437 march31 2017

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Volume 17 Issue 437 - Rajab 3, 1438 AH / March 31, 2017

10 “Islam Unravelled” to tackle Islamophobia 12 PCCA Celebrates Pakistan Day 19 Family Fun Day at Muslim Youth Centre

3 3 killed in Protest in Kashmir 4 US “probably” involved in mass Iraqi deaths

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Rajab 3. 1438 March 31, 2017

E D I T O R I A L

Crazy State of Real Estate Market in Toronto (GTA) The red hot market in Toronto and the vicinity continues to nourish the greedy mentality for profiteering; this really hurts those who are in need of owning a roof over their heads.

Almost all other provinces are already in a slowdown mode mainly for correctional adjustment.

Good news and bad news: The red hot market helped the rich become richer but hurt the first time home buyers by ousting them from the market altogether.

Factors leading to rising prices: The laundered foreign money kept on flooding into the Canadian real estate market, hence no inventory remains to be grabbed. In economics it’s a case of supply and demand.

Greed, by its nature, never ends; it makes you strive even harder for more.

No doubt, housing shortage is occurring due to the increase in population of the immigrants. The heavy influx of refugees made it worse.

Buying and maintaining a dwelling in Toronto and the vicinity is out of question for the mediocre and the poor. The qualification criterion has changed immensely.

This means buying property in GTA is a dream never coming true for the unfortunate ones who are in majority. Affordability has diminished to a great extent while in a majority of the cases it’s just a memory.

According to estimates by some experts, Toronto home prices have shot up 113 percent since early 2009, while Canadian prices as a whole have jumped 65 percent.

Making Vancouver real estate market available to wealthy Chinese was a way too much as it created more ghost towns. Those houses are not occupied. That resulted in a lesser tax collection due to the said ongoing emptiness.

The property prices in Vancouver are already on ‘a downwardtrend’, however, there are stable

prices in some cases depending on the location. This happened after the province of British Columbia imposed a 15 percent tax on foreign buyers in that city last August, mostly targeting people from mainland China.

Ontario will soon impose a tax on Toronto properties too, but the premier believes the stable prices will protect the current owners from losing home-values. Nevertheless, Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa urged the federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau to consider raising capital gains taxes, among other measures, to rein in speculation.

Fact is Ottawa has repeatedly tightened mortgage lending rules including qualification of the potential mortgage applicant in the past to avoid a housing bubble, but the boiling Toronto market continues to go like crazy.

Now the national market has cooled off, therefore, the developers and other market observers expect the next move from the Ontario government, or perhaps the city of Toronto.

The unethical practices of the regulated professionals are really problematic: The real-estate agents/brokers (mafia) tend to post a listing for an asking price and then encourage a bidding war, this results in attracting a large number of bidders. This leads to an over asking price scenario at the end of the day - unfairly. This becomes an auction style activity which amounts to nothing but cheating.

The culture of multiple offers is against the set procedure, but the agents are involved. They should be held responsible for the activity.

All involved will have to face the music when time comes. A ruling from the B.C. Supreme Court is a stark warning about the dangers of buying Canadian real estate from foreign owners. The landmark B.C. Supreme Court verdict has already sent shock waves to the Canadian real-estate market which

is all due to foreign investment.

The court took notice of a flaw/ loop hole in Canadian laws that often leads foreign owners of real estate in cities such as Metro Vancouver and Toronto to claim they are “residents of Canada for tax purposes” when they are not.

The landmark B.C. decision requires notary public Tony Liu to pay his client more than $600,000 because Liu failed to adequately determine whether the Vancouver house his client was buying for $5.5 million had been owned by a tax resident of Canada. Consequently, the CRA (Canada Revenue Agency) did not get paid, at the time of the sale, the twenty five per cent capital gains tax it charges the non-resident sellers of Canadian property on any profit they make on the sale.

The CRA later demanded the buyer pay the $600,000 in tax. The buyer, in turn, sued Liu, arguing Liu failed to discover the seller was not a tax resident of Canada.

The CRA considers people who don’t live in the country at least six months a year and don’t pay income taxes here to be foreign property investors and speculators and thus subject to capital gains taxes. http://vancouversun.com/ news/local-news/house-buyer-beware-landmark-b-c-court-rulingwill-shake-real-estate-industry This ruling has definitely put brakes on the Vancouver market.

People who watch the Toronto market closely say that makes sense, arguing that foreign buyers are a limited factor in driving up local prices. They’re pointing to a different, home-grown source of the surge in demand: investors who are buying houses not as a place to live, but as a place to grow their money.

The craze has thrust many wouldbe investors into a market with a limited housing supply, where they compete with people who want to buy a home to live in, bidding up prices. (Wynne ‘looking at

all options’) CBC News asked the Ontario premier if she is ruling out a foreign-buyers tax for the GTA. She replied, “B.C. has put in place a particular mechanism, we are not going to use that mechanism.”

Wynne said the “heart of the problem,” she wants to tackle is affordability for first-time homebuyers.

So, can the provincial government do anything to dampen the effect of investors driving up house prices? Premier Kathleen Wynne says Ontario and Toronto are ‘not going to go down the road that British Columbia has gone because it is a different market.’ (Chris Young/ Canadian Press) “That is a question I have asked,” said Wynne. “I don’t know whether there’s anything that we can do. We’re looking at all the options.” Wynne says she wants to avoid making any moves that would significantly hurt the value of the homes that people already own.

As the qualifying for getting a mortgage loan has become harder, the government has to take some drastic measures to help all for an appropriate accommodation either through encouraging a rental mentality or providing a cheaper home to enhance buying ability. In other words, there must be a housing programme that builds good affordable accommodation to suit the needs of needy families.

Additional Sources: • http://vancouversun.com/news/ local-news/house-buyer-beware-landmark-b-c-court-ruling-will-shake-real-estate-industry • http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ toronto/foreign-buyers-tax-torontoreal-estate-investors-1.3824467 http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/ toronto-housing-bmo-td-1.4028032 http://globalnews.ca/news/3307975/ generation-squeeze-bc-economy

Canadian Muslims must be politically active across BC.

By:Mahmood Awan

We should not become isolated and made to feel we are not a part of Canada. Examples of this are glaringly demonstrated across the border in the US. The Muslim community lacks the leadership which is so essential in the success of Muslim Canadians to excel in the political arena.

In Canada, we are blessed with fundamental rights (free speech, religion, etc.), rights that don’t exist in some countries that a vast majority of immigrants come from. You have the right to cast a ballot and have your voice heard.

“The number of Muslims in Canada is expected to nearly triple in the next 20 years, from about 940,000 in 2010 to

Muslim activism and a new political confidence emerged. Muslim organizations in Ontario partnered with social justice groups to combat antiMuslim rhetoric and discuss Muslim identity and empowerment. In turn, this provided Muslims with the confidence they needed to run for office.

BC Muslims have been sorely lacking in leadership from Muslim organizations such as the BCMA. BCMA has done a great service by providing many masajids across BC but have lacked the vision needed to further our inclusivity in the political process at all three levels of government. Under this spirit, the vision for every Muslim and every BC Muslim should be for the future of our children and how they will have a voice in the future of Canada. Muslim candidates in BC receive no support, no funding and no volunteers from the Muslim organizations to assist in their bids for public ­­­­office which is in direct contrast with the massive support Muslim candidates receive in Ontario. Our leadership, especially the BCMA, must encourage and cultivate the political aspirations of those individuals who choose to run for office. They will become our rep-

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Wa a n l a y s a l i l i n s a n i i l l a m a ’ s a ’ a a T h a t m a n c a n h a v e n o t h i n g b u t w h a t h e s t r i v e s f o r. nearly 2.7 million in 2030. Muslims account for a larger share of the general population in Canada than they do in the United States. By 2030, 6.6% of Canada’s population is projected to be Muslim, up from 2.8% in 2010. Within two decades, Canada is expected to have the second-largest number of Muslims in the Americas.”

— Pew Research Center, The Future of the Global Muslim Population, 2011 An unprecedented number of Muslims ran in the 2015 Federal Election.

Eleven Muslims were elected to office.

Most them said they decided to run for office to fight the negative stereotype of Muslim Canadians. Of those elected, ten were running in Ontario and one was from Alberta. One must applaud their success. At the same time, we in BC must wonder where we are in the political process. We certainly do not lack in the number of talented individuals who are willing to sacrifice their time in the service of their country. The only thing that I feel is lacking is the leadership in the Muslim community of BC. Ontario Muslim organizations became increasingly active after the tragic events of 9/11 and the anti-Islamic culture intensified

Bringing

resentative voice that needs to be heard.

Muslim MPs from different cultural and religious backgrounds will offer valuable input in legislative debates on social and economic issues that affect all Canadians.

“Don’t ask what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” John F. Kennedy

ISCC and MAT Strongly Condemn Today’s Terrorists Attacks in London, UK By:Imam Syed Baidud Dean Soharwardhy Calgary) The Islamic Supreme Council of Canada (ISCC) and Muslims Against Terrorism (MAT) strongly condemn today’s terrorist attacks in London, United Kingdom near the British Parliament. The attacks killed 5 innocent people and wounded more than 40.

The members of ISCC and MAT are saddened by this tragedy. At this stage, we do not know the motives behind these attacks.

We condemn these attacks and expect that the culprits will be brought to justice. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families.

Website: www.miraclenews.com

Contents Editorial & Int. News Local Special Faith Immigration Politics Health Women Lifestyle Information Youth/ Kids Sports Urdu

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IMPORTANT NOTE:

Letters to the editor do not reflect the opinion of the Miracle media group. We do not publish anonymous letters or the letters of the people who do not disclose their identity to ‘The Miracle.’ A writer can use a pen name or request ‘The Miracle’ to withhold his / her identity. Please include your daytime telephone number for the confirmation of your letter. We regret the inconvenience.

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Rajab 3. 1438 March 31, 2017

PAKISTAN

Kashmir: 3 killed in violent protests after firefight

At least three civilians have been killed during protests in India-administered Kashmir after police targeted a home where a suspected rebel was holed up. About 28 people were also injured in Tuesday’s demonstration that followed a gun battle at the home in the southern town of Chadoora, where the suspected fighter was killed, police and witnesses said. The firefight began after police and soldiers cordoned off Chadoora following a tip that at least one gunman was hiding in the house, said police Inspector-General Syed Javaid Mujtaba Gillani.

Army spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia said one rebel was killed in the operation and a weapon was recovered from the site. Residents said Indian troops blasted the house with explosives. As the fighting raged, hundreds of residents chanting anti-India slogans marched to the area. Witnesses said intense clashes between rock-throwing protesters and government forces erupted just a few hundred metres from the besieged house, with police and paramilitary soldiers firing shotgun pellets and tear gas to stop the demonstration. Violence quickly spread to multiple areas. Later, government forces fired into the crowd, killing three civilians, including a teenager, and injuring at least 20 others, police said, adding eight police and sol-

diers were also hurt in the clashes. Arshad Hussain, a 22-year-old resident of Chadoora who witnessed the clashes, said that government forces “deliberately” fired at people. “Today, I dodged bullets for the first time [in my life] and it* was very scary. Blood and pieces of flesh were visible in the corridor of the house where the rebel had taken his position,” he said. Al Jazeera was unable to immediately reach the Jammu and Kashmir state government or the ruling People’s Democratic Party for comment.

In Srinagar, the main city in India-administered Kashmir, police stopped an ambulance and took custody of the body of a 23-year-old student killed in the protests. The man had been brought to a Srinagar hospital where doctors declared him dead. Police fired tear gas and swung batons after the dead man’s relatives pleaded they be allowed to take the body back to Chadoora. A police officer, speaking on a customary condition of anonymity, said the body was taken to avoid more protests in Chadoora and it would be handed to relatives for burial later on Tuesday. Nuclear-armed neighbours India and Pakistan each administer part of Kashmir, but both claim the Himalayan territory in its entirety. Most people in India’s portion favour independence or a merger with Pakistan.

Separatist leaders who challenge India’s sovereignty over Kashmir called for a shutdown and further protests on Wednesday against the killing of the three civilians.

Three key leaders - Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, and Yasin Malik - said in a statement the killings were “brazen state terrorism”. Last month, India’s army chief warned “tough action” would be taken against stone-throwers during counter-insurgency operations.

But the anti-India protests and clashes have continued.

Rebels have fought against Indian rule in Kashmir since 1989. More than 68,000 people have been killed in the armed uprising and ensuing Indian military crackdown.

Source: Al-Jazeera

Pakistan starts building fence along Afghanistan border

Pakistan’s military has begun fencing parts of its disputed northwestern border with Afghanistan to curb the movement of Pakistani Taliban fighters it says are based on Afghan soil, according to a statement. Fencing started in the Pakistani Bajaur and Mohmand districts, which border the eastern Afghan provinces of Nangarhar and Kunar, Pakistan’s Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa announced on Saturday. Pakistan shares a mountainous and largely unpatrolled 2,500km-long border with Afghanistan, which the latter disputes. Previous attempts to fence or formally demarcate the border have met with resistance from Kabul. In June, at least four people were killed

Basharat Shah

when Pakistan and Afghanistan exchanged artillery fire over Pakistan building a formal border control complex at Torkham, the main border crossing between the two countries. The clash marked a continuing souring of relations between the South Asian neighbours. Pakistan sealed all border crossings with Afghanistan in mid-February, during a wave of attacks on Pakistani soil that killed at least 130 people. Those attacks were followed by frequent skirmishes between Pakistani Taliban fighters and Pakistan’s military along the border in the Mohmand, Khyber and other districts. In the latest such violence, on March 17, at least eight people, including two soldiers, were killed in a Pakistani Taliban attack on Pakistani border posts from the Afghan side of the border. The border closure remained in place for more than a month, leaving thousands of visitors and tons of perishable goods stranded on either side of the border.

On March 20, Pakistan’s Prime Minister ordered the reopening of the border for all traffic “on humanitarian grounds”.Addressing troops deployed on the border in Mohmand and Orakzai districts on Saturday, Bajwa said “technical surveillance means are also being deployed along the border besides regular air surveillance”, a Pakistani military statement said. Bajwa said that Pakistan

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was working with Afghanistan to develop a bilateral border security mechanism. “A better managed, secure and peaceful border is in mutual interest of both brotherly countries who have given phenomenal sacrifices in war against terrorism,” he said. The Pakistan-Afghanistan border has been at the centre of accusations hurled by both governments against each other. Pakistan and Afghanistan accuse each other of sheltering elements of the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban respectively. Both sides deny the charges, although major leaders from both groups have been killed on the others’ soil in the past. Pakistan’s military is now building more than 420 “small forts” along the border, and deploying radar sensors to detect cross-border movement, Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper on Sunday.

Source: Al-Jazeera

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Rajab 3. 1438 March 31, 2017

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US ‘probably’ involved in mass Iraqi civilian deaths

The top US commander in Iraq on Tuesday acknowledged the likelihood that the US-led coalition played a role in blasts in Mosul that killed many civilians this month, but said an investigation was under way and ISIL may also be to blame. “My initial assessment is that we probably had a role in these casualties... What I don’t know is were they [the civilians] gathered there by the enemy? We still have some assessments to do,” Lieutenant-General Steve Townsend told a Pentagon news briefing, speaking from Iraq. “I would say this, that it sure looks like they were.” Conflicting accounts have emerged since the March 17 explosion in al-Jadida district in west Mosul, where Iraqi forces backed by US-led coalition air strikes are fighting to clear Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) fighters from Iraq’s second city. Investigators are in Mosul to determine whether a US-led coalition strike or ISIL-rigged explosives caused a blast that destroyed buildings and may have killed more than 200 people. “My initial impression is the enemy had a hand in this. And there’s also a fair chance that our strike had some role in it,” Townsend said. “I think it’s probably going to play out to be some sort of combination. But you know what, I can’t really say for sure and we just have to let the investigation play out.” More than 300 civilians have been killed in west Mosul since Iraqi forces and the US-led coalition began an offensive last month to push ISIL out of its last stronghold in Iraq, the UN said on Tuesday, adding the toll could exceed 400 if new killings are verified. “This is an enemy that ruthlessly exploits civilians to serve its own ends, and clearly has not even the faintest qualm about deliberately placing them in danger,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein said in a

statement. “[ISIL’s] strategy of using children, men and women to shield themselves from attack is cowardly and disgraceful. It breaches the most basic standards of human dignity and morality,” he said. Hundreds of thousands more civilians are still trapped inside west Mosul after Iraqi forces and the US-coalition recaptured the city’s east from ISIL in January. West Mosul is both smaller and more densely populated than the city’s east, meaning this stage of the battle poses a greater danger to civilians than those that came before. Amnesty International’s Donatella Rovera said field research in east Mosul showed “an alarming pattern of US-led coalition air strikes, which have destroyed whole houses with entire families inside”. “The high civilian toll suggests that coalition forces... have failed to take adequate precautions to prevent civilian deaths, in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law,” she said. In the east, the Iraqi forces adopted a strategy of encouraging civilians to stay at home, dropping leaflets into the city with safety instructions for residents. “The fact that Iraqi authorities repeatedly advised civilians to remain at home instead of fleeing the area indicates that coalition forces should have known that these strikes were likely to result in a significant numbers of civilian casualties,” Rovera told Al Jazeera. Witnesses told Amnesty that people were killed in their own homes after heading government advice not to flee the city. The UN said it also received reports of another 95 people killed in four western Mosul neighbourhoods between March 23-26. The rights office said it was not in a position to provide a breakdown of the deaths caused by ISIL violence and air strikes by the international anti-ISIL coalition.

Source: Al-Jazeera

Nearly 40,000 people, mostly women and children, have been displaced over the past week by fighting northwest of Syria’s Hama city, the United Nations said on Tuesday.

Since the rebel offensive began in the area a week ago, people have fled south and west to Hama city and neighbouring districts in Homs, Latakia and Tartous, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement. “Some internally displaced people are at risk of further displacement as the front lines continue to shift,” it said. Rebels led by the hardline Tahrir al-Sham alliance - formed by a group that once fought as al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria - launched attacks on March 21 with the aim of retaking areas captured by government forces in 2016 and pushed into Hama city. At least 10 different rebel groups battling as part of the Free Syrian Army are also engaged in heavy fighting in northern Hama. The Ahrar al-Sham rebel group, once the strongest in Syria’s north, announced on Tuesday it too had begun an

offensive in Hama. Ahrar al-Sham military spokesman Omar Khittab announced in a video posted to YouTube the beginning of a new stage of fighting “against this criminal regime and against its sectarian militias”.

Ahrar al-Sham appears to have entered the fight in Hama as part of a separate operation because of recent clashes between it and Tahrir al-Sham in Syria’s north. The Russian Defence Ministry said on Tuesday that Syrian government forces with Russian air support had “eliminated” more than 2,100 rebel fighters over the past four days, the state-run TASS news agency reported.

Colonel-General Sergey Rudskoy told the press that Tahrir al-Sham had deployed 10,000 fighters to Hama. The numbers provided by the Russian Defence Ministry could not be independently verified by Al Jazeera. The Syrian army announced on Monday that it had retaken several villages initially captured by rebels at the beginning of the offensive.

Source: Al-Jazeera

Syria: 40,000 displaced as fighting rages near Hama

U.S.-led coalition not protecting Mosul civilians: Amnesty International

A recent spike in civilian casualties in Mosul suggests the U.S.-led coalition is not taking adequate precautions as it helps Iraqi forces battle the Islamic State group, Amnesty International said Tuesday. The rights group’s allegations came after the U.S. military acknowledged carrying out a March 17 airstrike in an area of western Mosul where residents say an explosion killed more than 100 civilians. U.S. officials did not confirm there were civilian casualties, but said a probe is underway. Amnesty’s report also cites a second strike on Saturday that it said killed up to 150 people. The U.S.-led coalition said in a statement that it was investigating multiple strikes in western Mosul that allegedly resulted in civilian deaths. Evidence gathered on the ground in Mosul “points to an alarming pattern of U.S.-led coalition airstrikes which have destroyed whole houses with entire families inside,” the Amnesty report said. It said any failure to take precautions to prevent civilian casualties would be “in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.” In Baghdad, visiting U.S. army chief of staff, Gen. Mark A. Milley, said Monday that the exact cause of the March 17 explosion was still unknown, adding that “some degree of certainty will be known in the coming days following the investigation.”

“It is very possible that Daesh blew up that building to blame it on the coalition in order to cause a delay in the offensive into Mosul and cause a delay in the use of coalition airstrikes,” Milley told reporters. “And it is possible the coalition airstrike did it.”

Daesh is an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group. Initial results from an investigation launched by the Iraqi Defence Ministry showed that the airstrike hit an explosive-laden tanker truck which was heading toward the advancing troops, according to Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasool, an Iraqi military spokesman. The explosion damaged a number of buildings, including the one where IS was holding 130 civilians as human shields and where snipers were deployed on its roof, Rasool said. “It is a new tactic being used by the members of this terrorist group, using big car bombs against the troops that impact the civilians to inflame

the public,” he told The Associated Press.

He added that the rules of engagement adopted by Iraqi troops and the coalition had not changed. Speaking to reporters in Geneva, the spokesman of the U.N. human rights office called on the coalition to work to “minimize the impact” on civilians. Rupert Colville said IS militants are brazenly employing human shields, urging the coalition to “avoid this trap.” Colville added that the rights office has tallied the deaths of at least 307 people between Feb. 17 and March 22, including 140 from the March 17 airstrike. Iraqi forces began the assault on IS-held Mosul in October, after months of preparation and buildup. In January, Iraq declared the eastern half of Mosul – the Tigris River divides the city into an eastern and western sector – “fully liberated.”

Iraqi government forces are now battling to retake the city’s western half. Civilians, humanitarian groups and monitoring officials have repeatedly warned of the possibility of increased civilian casualties in western Mosul due to the higher density of the population there and the increased reliance on airstrikes and artillery. Faced with their toughest fight against IS yet, Iraqi and coalition forces have increasingly turned to airstrikes and artillery to clear and hold territory in Mosul’s west. Unlike in previous battles against IS in urban settings in Iraq, the government instructed Mosul civilians to remain in their homes, to prevent large-scale displacement. In the battles for Fallujah and Ramadi, those cities were entirely emptied of their civilian population while Iraqi forces fought to push out IS. When the operation to retake Mosul was launched, more than a million people were estimated to still be living in the city, Iraq’s second-largest. Today, the United Nations estimates about 400,000 people remain trapped in IS-held neighbourhoods in western Mosul. Amnesty International’s report quoted survivors and eyewitnesses of airstrikes that have killed civilians as saying that “they did not try to flee as the battle got underway because they received repeated instructions from the Iraqi authorities to remain in their homes.”

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Worst humanitarian crisis hits as Trump slashes foreign aid

The world’s largest humanitarian crisis in 70 years has been declared in three African countries on the brink of famine, just as President Donald Trump’s proposed foreign aid cuts threaten to pull the United States from its historic role as the world’s top emergency donor. If the deep cuts are approved by Congress and the U.S. does not contribute to Africa’s current crisis, experts warn that the continent’s growing drought and famine could have far-ranging effects, including a new wave of migrants heading to Europe and possibly more support for Islamic extremist groups. The conflict-fueled hunger crises in Nigeria, Somalia and South Sudan have culminated in a trio of potential famines hitting almost simultaneously. Nearly 16 million people in the three countries are at risk of dying within months. Famine already has been declared in two counties of South Sudan and 1 million people there are on the brink of dying from a lack of food, UN officials have said. Somalia has declared a state of emergency over drought and 2.9 million of its people face a food crisis that could become a famine, according to the UN And in northeastern Nigeria, severe malnutrition is widespread in areas affected by violence from Boko Haram extremists.

“We are facing the largest humanitarian crisis since the creation of the United Nations,” Stephen O’Brien, the UN humanitarian chief, told the UN Security Council after a visit this month to Somalia and South Sudan. At least $4.4 billion is needed by the end of March to avert a hunger “catastrophe” in Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, and Yemen, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in late February. But according to UN data, only 10 per cent of the necessary funds have been received so far. Trump’s proposed budget would “absolutely” cut programs that help some of the most vulnerable people on Earth, Mick Mulvaney, the president’s budget director, told reporters last week. The budget would “spend less money on people overseas and more money on people back home,” he said. The United States traditionally has been the largest do-

nor to the UN and gives more foreign aid to Africa than any other continent. In 2016 it gave more than $2 billion to the U.N.’s World Food Program, or almost a quarter of its total budget. That is expected to be reduced under Trump’s proposed budget, according to former and current U.S. government officials. In an interview last week with the AP in Washington, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell rejected the proposed cuts to foreign aid. “America being a force is a lot more than building up the Defence Department,” he said. “Diplomacy is important, extremely important, and I don’t think these reductions at the State Department are appropriate because many times diplomacy is a lot more effective -- and certainly cheaper -- than military engagement.” The hunger crises in Nigeria, Somalia and South Sudan are all the more painful because they are man-made, experts said, though climate change has had some impact on Somalia and Nigeria’s situations, said J. Peter Pham, the head of the Africa Center at the Atlantic Council. South Sudan has been entrenched in civil war since late 2013 that has killed tens of thousands and prevented widespread cultivation of food. In Nigeria and Somalia, extremist groups Boko Haram and al-Shabab have proven stubborn to defeat, and both Islamic organizations still hold territory that complicates aid efforts. If Trump’s foreign aid cuts are approved, the humanitarian funding burden for the crises would shift to other large donors like Britain. But the U.S.’s influential role in rallying global support will slip. Meanwhile, neighbouring African countries will feel the immediate consequences of famine, experts said. On Thursday, the UN refugee chief said Uganda was at a “breaking point” after more than 570,000 South Sudanese refugees had arrived since July alone. Others fleeing hunger could aim for Europe instead. He described a series of possible consequences.

Most likely there will be increased flows of people migrating from Somalia and the vast Sahel region north into Libya, where trafficking routes are a valuable source of finance for the Islamic State, he said. Closer to home, people from South Sudan and Somalia seeking food likely will strain the resources of neighbouring countries where political will and goodwill to refugees can be fleeting, said Mohammed Abdiker, director of operations and emergencies with the International Organization for Migration.

The regional consequences will depend on how the international community responds, Abdiker said. Alex De Waal, executive director of the World Peace Foundation, summed up the situation: “Famine can be prevented if we want.”

Source: CTV News

Trump tosses Obama’s ‘clean’ energy plan

Declaring “the start of a new era” in energy production, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday that he said would revive the coal industry and create jobs. The move makes good on his campaign pledge to unravel former President Barack Obama’s plan to curb global warming. The order seeks to suspend, rescind or flag for review more than a halfdozen measures in an effort to boost domestic energy production in the form of fossil fuels. Environmental activists, including former Vice-President Al Gore, denounced the plan. But Trump said the effort would allow workers to “succeed on a level playing field for the first time in a long time. That is what this is all about: bringing back our jobs, bringing back our dreams and making America wealthy again,” Trump said, during a ceremony at the Environmental Protection Agency headquarters, attended by a number of coal miners. The order initiates a review of the Clean Power Plan, which restricts greenhouse gas emissions at coalfired power plants. The regulation, which was the former president’s signature effort to curb carbon emissions, has been the subject of long-running legal challenges

by Republican-led states and those who profit from burning oil, coal and gas. But just as Obama’s climate efforts were often stymied by legal challenges, environmental groups are promising to fight Trump’s pro-fossil fuel agenda in court. Trump has called global warming a “hoax” invented by the Chinese, and has repeatedly criticized the power-plant rule as an attack on American workers and the struggling U.S. coal industry. In addition to pulling back from the Clean Power Plan, the administration will also lift a 14-month-old moratorium on new coal leases on federal lands.

The Obama administration had imposed a three-year moratorium on new federal coal leases in January 2016, arguing that the $1 billion-a-year program must be modernized to ensure a fair financial return to taxpayers and address climate change. Trump accused his predecessor of waging a “war on coal” and boasted in a speech to Congress that he has made “a historic effort to massively reduce job-crushing regulations,” including some that threaten “the future and livelihoods of our great coal miners.” The order will also chip away at other regulations, including scrapping language on the “social cost” of greenhouse gases. It will initiate a review of efforts to reduce the emission of methane in oil and natural gas production as well as a Bureau of Land Management hydraulic fracturing rule, to determine whether those reflect the president’s policy priorities. It will also rescind Obama-era executive orders and memoranda, includ-

Costs of protectionism are ‘steep’, Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz warns Stephen Poloz said on Tuesday in a speech pushing back against rising anti-trade sentiment in both the United States and Europe. In a speech that did not mention monetary policy, Poloz said there is a direct correlation between economic progress and openness, and pointed to trade, immigration and foreign investment as necessary ingredients to Canada’s prosperity. “Protectionism does not promote growth and its costs are steep,” Poloz said in prepared remarks to Durham College in his hometown of Oshawa, in Canada’s manufacturing heartland. “So there are compelling reasons why Canada should continue pushing for open markets, both here and abroad.” Still, the central banker acknowledged the benefits of free trade must be shared to counter the negative impact that workers in specific indus-

tries feel from automation and competition. “What is crucial is that we deploy some of the benefits of being open to assist those who need help adjusting to global forces. Failing to do so invites doubt and puts everyone’s progress at stake,” he said. A backlash against free trade and job losses, particularly in manufacturing, was seen as a driving factor behind some of the support for U.S. President Donald Trump and the Brexit campaign. Trump’s vow to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement has caused concern in Canada and Mexico, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has taken pains to promote the benefits to both Canada and the United States of the bilateral trade flow. The United States is Canada’s largest trading partner, taking some 75 per cent of its exports. Poloz said fears of

openness are heightened during times of economic stress, but experience has shown that such fears are “misplaced.”

In the speech, which traced Canada’s economic history, Poloz argued there are compelling reasons to remain open to immigration to boost the labor force and productivity as well as keep Canada’s economic potential expanding. He also said it is important that Canada remains open to foreign capital flows, noting that “our domestic savings base has not been large enough” to finance the major infrastructure needs of a country with such vast geography and relatively small population, “so we have needed foreign capital.”

Source: Financial Post

ing one that addressed climate change and national security and one that sought to prepare the country for the impacts of climate change. The administration is still in discussion about whether it intends to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on climate change. Trump’s order could make it more difficult, though not impossible, for the U.S. to achieve its carbon reduction goals.

The president’s promises to boost coal jobs run counter to market forces, such as U.S. utilities converting coal-fired power plants to cheaper, cleaner-burning natural gas.

Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency chief, Scott Pruitt, alarmed environmental groups and scientists earlier this month when he said he does not believe carbon dioxide is a primary contributor to global warming. The statement is at odds with mainstream scientific consensus and Pruitt’s own agency. The overwhelming majority of peer-reviewed studies and climate scientists agree the planet is warming, mostly due to man-made sources, including carbon dioxide, methane, halocarbons and nitrogen oxide. Opponents say Obama’s effort would have killed coal-mining jobs and driven up electricity costs. The Obama administration, some Democratic-led states and environmental groups counter that it would spur thousands of clean-energy jobs and help the U.S. meet ambitious goals to reduce carbon pollution set by the international agreement signed in Paris. Trump’s order on coal-fired power plants follows an executive order he signed last month mandating a review of an Obama-era rule aimed at protecting small streams and wetlands from development and pollution. The order instructs the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers to review a rule that redefined “waters of the United States” protected under the Clean Water Act to include smaller creeks and wetlands.

While Republicans have blamed Obamaera environmental regulations for the loss of coal jobs, federal data shows that U.S. mines have been shedding jobs for decades under presidents from both parties as a result of increasing automation and competition from natural gas, which has become more abundant through hydraulic fracturing. Another factor is the plummeting cost of solar panels and wind turbines, which now can produce emissions-free electricity cheaper than burning coal. According to an Energy Department analysis released in January, coal mining now accounts for fewer than 75,000 U.S. jobs. By contrast, renewable energy -- including wind, solar and biofuels -- now accounts for more than 650,000 U.S. jobs.

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Rajab 3. 1438 March 31, 2017

FAITH

Narrated Anas: The people mentioned the fire and the bell (they suggested

those as signals to indicate the starting of prayers), and by that they mentioned the Jews and the Christians. Then Bilal was ordered to pronounce Adhan for the prayer by saying its wordings twice, and for the Iqama (the call for the actual standing for the prayers in rows) by saying its wordings once. (Iqama is pronounced when the people are ready for the prayer).

Sahih Bukhari. 11: 577

T

Values to live by according to the Quran

By: Dr Mamadou Bocoum he Quran advocates many values that shape one’s intellectual and spiritual journey to God; but most importantly, these values also enable adherents to be more tolerant as they consider themselves vicegerent of God. Unfortunately, it appears that some Muslims do not give due consideration to these values. Following are some values that the Quran highlights related to the value of life, respecting differences; justice and forgiveness.

How the Qur’an values life When your Lord said to the angels, “I am appointing someone as my deputy on earth,” they said (almost protesting), “Are you going to appoint one who will commit corruption and bloodshed therein, even though we (are the ones who) commemorate Your Name and glorify You?” The Lord said, “I know that which you do not know”.

(Q. 2:30).

I find this passage from the Quran extremely important. It helps me appreciate mankind but also my journey towards understanding God and his relationship with mankind. For instance, the verse indicates that mankind enjoys the most privileged state amongst all God’s creations. Furthermore, the verse tells us that mankind is God’s viceroy on earth. God could have chosen the angels (but he seemingly rebuked them) or other beings but did not.

Humans occupy a unique position in the divine scheme of things, and safeguarding the sanctity of life is paramount. It is for this reason that the Qur’an considers murder one of the greatest sins. The Qur’an informs Muslims that murdering one person is akin to murdering all mankind; but helping to preserve individual life is the equivalent of helping to preserve the life of all humankind.

If anyone kills a person not in retaliation of murder, or (and) to spread mischief in the land – it would be as if he kills all mankind, and if anyone saves

Last edition Al Names were

a life, it would be as if he saves the life of all mankind. And indeed, there came to them Our Messengers with clear proofs, evidences, and signs, even then after that many of them continued to exceed the limits (e.g. by doing oppression unjustly and exceeding beyond the limits set by God by committing the major sins) in the land!. (Q. 5:32).

Indeed, if murder was a customary practice among humankind, it would not take long for the human race to vanish into extinction. Here the Quran informs Muslims that the survival of all humankind depends on everyone respecting and protecting others. One concludes from this noble verse that we are an interdependent species and our survival and prosperity is dependent on the value we place on the lives of others.

Respecting difference in the Quran, including difference of belief Diversity, especially in the sense of difference of belief, is part of divine will. The Quran helps me to understand and appreciate this fact quite well as it states the following verses.

And if your Lord had willed, He could have made [all] mankind one community; but they will not cease to differ.

(Q.11:118) And had your God willed, those on earth would have believed all of them entirely. Then, [O Muhammad], would you compel the people in order that they become believers? (Q. 10:99).

Names Of A l l a h (SWT) & Mohammad (PBUH)

Samad

name

of

Allah(swt)

Al Mubin Mohammad(saw) name.

O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you into diverse nations and tribes so that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of God is the most righteous of you (Q. 49:13).

Looking at these verses one can see that God in fact wills mankind to be diverse including differences in beliefs. I personally find this extremely important.

These verses clearly stand against any Muslim who proselytizes and holds Islam as the only true faith and sees other religions as null, or sees people of non faith as irrelevant. Conversion is God’s work, and he willed that all mankind would not exist in a single community or hold one identical message. Even Mohammed did not have the power to convert people to Islam but Mohammed was rather asked to convey the message for conversion as one of the above quoted verses indicate is God’s work. God wills human difference and Muslims ought to see this difference as being part of the moral teaching of the Quran.

The value of justice in the Quran O you who believe! Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to God; even though it be against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, be he rich or poor, God is a better Protector to both (than you). So follow not the lusts (of your hearts), lest you may avoid justice, and if you distort your witness or

refuse to give it, verily, God is ever well acquainted with what you do.

(Q. 4:135).

O you who have believed, be persistently standing firm for God , witnesses in justice, and do not let the hatred of a people prevent you from being just.

Be just; that is nearer to righteousness.

And fear God; indeed, God is acquainted with what you do. (Q. 5:8).

Arguably, it is almost impossible to enjoy or appreciate any values or even the meaning of life in the absence of justice. Hence why the concept of justice is paramount in the teaching of the Quran. As the above verses demonstrate, God commands Muslims to be just and practice justice wherever they are in spite of how difficult the situation may prove. Furthermore, the Quran makes the call for righteous behavior and the practice of justice between Muslims; but also to follow the above when dealing with non-Muslims. To not follow this path is to go against the teaching of the Quran.

Forgiveness in the Quran The value of forgiveness, widely associated with Christianity, can play a central role in a Muslim’s spiritual journey toward God. Hence it would be just and fair to conclude this short chapter with quotes from the Quran.

Those who spend [charity] in prosperity and in adversity, who repress anger, and who forgive men; verily, God loves the good doers (Q.3:134).

And not equal are the good deed and the bad. Repel [bad] by that [deed] which is better; and thereupon the one whom between you and him is enmity [will become] as though he was a devoted friend. (Q. 41:34) Imam Dr Mamadou Bocoum is presently head of the Library and a lecturer at the Muslim College, London and a Chaplain at Ford Prison, Sussex. He is committed to interfaith work and has participated in various interfaith activities, lecturing on both the development and maintenance of relations between the Abrahamic faiths.

Source: Religiousreader.org

Prayer Schedule in Greater Vancouver Islm.

Date

March 31-April 14, 2017 Rajab 3-17, 1438 H Day Sunrise Fajar Sunr DhuhrAsarAsar Isha Date Fajar DhuhrZawal Asar (shafi) (hanfi) Maghrib Magrib Isha

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 For such Prayers are enjoined on believers at stated times: Quran ,n 4:103 Source: BCMA

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Rajab 3. 1438 March 31, 2017

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Rajab 3. 1438 March 31, 2017

LOCAL

ISLAM UNRAVELLED LAUNCHED TO TACKLE ISLAMOPHOBIA AND DISCRIMINATION THROUGH EDUCATION AND DIALOG

March 21st marks the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination across the world. On that day, in 1960, police opened fire and killed 69 people at a peaceful demonstration in Sharpeville, South Africa, against the apartheid pass laws.

Proclaiming the day in 1966, the United Nations General Assembly called on the international community to redouble its efforts to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination.

With this important event in the backdrop, Islam Unravelled, a project initiated in collaboration with community and government partners across Canada, was launched in Surrey Arts Center.

The purpose of this project is to tackle Islamophobia and Discrimination in all of its forms through education and dialogue.

It was attended by officials of various levels of government and community organizations who

conveyed, their commitment to reinforce Canadian values of inclusivity and respect.

Speakers at the event included Hon. Peter Fassbender- Minister for BC Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development, Harry Bains- NDP MLA for Surrey Newton, Jinny Sims and Jagrup Brar - BC NDP Candidates, John Brewer, RCMP Superintendent ‘E’ Division and aboriginal and interfaith community representatives. The Keynote Address was delivered by Mufti Aasim Rashid, Head of Islam Unravelled who spoke about the project’s origins, mandate, current and future work and how Canadians can benefit from this program in the coming months and years.

Islam Unravelled is an initiative of the Al-Ihsan Educational Foundation with support of the Al Jamia Masjid Vancouver, Islamic organizations and individuals from across BC and the nation.

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Rajab 3. 1438 March 31, 2017

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Saturday, April 1st

Food Distribution and drive, 7 am to 1 pm MFB Warehouse, 101 13085 115th Street, Surrey BC

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12

Rajab 3. 1438 March 31, 2017

LOCAL

PCCA Celebrates Pakistan Day

On March 19, the Pakistani Canadian Cultural Association (PCCA) hosted 77th Pakistan Day Mega show at the Taj Park Conventation in Surrey. The Banquet hall was full with people not only from the Pakistani community but also other ethnic communities and Canadian Provincial and Federal political party members. The master of ceremonies were Haroon Qasier and Arooj Qaiser who conducted the program very well in Urdu and English. After the recitation of few verses of Quran, national anthems of Pakistan and Canada were sung at the podium. There were commendable performances by children who participated by singing, performing regional dances, and playing violin.

The event’s highlight was Pakistan isinger Farwa Khan who gave a brillant performrance.

President PCCA Farukh Syed delivered

a short address and thanked everyone .Many Surrey city councillors, Liberal, Conservative and NDP MLAs, MPs and prominent figures along with members of other Government agencies and associations were present at this event. Some of them came on the stage and delivered their thoughts and their party leaders’ messages for Pakistan Day and appreciated PCCA. Vice Counsel of Pakistani Consulate Fahad Amjad also spoke at the event.

A number of achievement awards were presented to people from all walks of life included media.

A special thanks was also given from the President to all volunteers , media, sponsors and Taj Park Convention management. Overall it was a very successful event showcasing many talents and the hardwork of all members and volunteers made the event enjoyable for all.

Packed house at Sims’ campaign office opening BC NDP Candidate for Surrey Panorama Ridge, Jinny Sims held an official campaign office opening event which was a packed event.

Muslim community supporting Jinny Sims’s Office Inauguration.

13

Rajab 3. 1438 March 31, 2017

Settling Syrian torture lawsuit not end of story

By Paul Copeland Last Friday, which was the end of the school March break in Ontario, the federal government quietly announced the settlement of a major lawsuit brought by Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad El Maati and Muayyed Nureddin for very significant damages arising from the Canadian complicity and malfeasance related to their torture by the Syrian government many years ago.

The claim was based on the improper actions of members of CSIS, the RCMP and Foreign Affairs officials. The government apologized to the three men. The timing of the announcement appears to have been calculated to reduce public attention to the settlement.

That settlement, after more than a decade since their return to Canada, allows the men and their families to start to re-establish their lives in Canada.

The terms of the settlement are confidential and at this point only government officials and the Department of Justice lawyers know the extent of Canadian involvement in responsibility for the torture of the three men.

In my view, it is critically important steps are taken to ensure the type of government activities by CSIS, the RCMP and foreign affairs officials that contributed to the torture of the men in Syria do not reoccur.

Parliament is in the process of establishing, under Bill C-22, a parliamentary oversight committee for Canadian security and intelligence services. It appears, as that Bill makes its way through the parliamentary process the Trudeau government is seeking to ensure the parliamentary committee will be prevented from having meaningful oversight of any of the actions of the Canadian

national security agencies.

Earlier this month, Murray Rankin, an NDP MP, spoke on Bill C-22 in the Commons.

He said the public safety committee, with the help of expert advice, had recognized the flaws in the government’s first draft of Bill C-22 and came together around evidence-based amendments. Rankin, based on the testimony of many experts at the committee, was extremely concerned that without the amendments, the committee to be established under Bill C-22 would not be able to effectively do its job.

After receiving the proposed amendments, the government came up with new proposals: • The first would remove the oversight committee’s power to subpoena witnesses and documents.

• The second would allow cabinet ministers to withhold information from the oversight committee.

• The third was to add a senator and another government MP to the committee so the votes of the government MPs will always outnumber the votes of the nongovernment MPs.

• The fourth was to stop the committee from receiving information about all active law-enforcement investigations, all the time.

The revelations of the McDonald Commission, the Keable Inquiry, the Arar Inquiry and the Iacobucci inquiry revealed some details of the very serious wrongdoing over many years by members of the Canadian national security agencies.

In the lawsuit brought by the three men, the government of Canada strenuously resisted, through section 38 of the Canada Evidence Act proceedings, any revelations of serious wrongdoings by Canadian government officials in relation to the three men.

Justice Mosley of the Federal Court of Canada, with the assistance of two lawyers acting as amici curiae (friends of the court), allowed some of the information that the government lawyers wanted to remain secret to be known to the lawyers for the three men.

I presume the release of some of that secret information persuaded the national security agencies and the government lawyers to conclude that letting this case go to trial

would prove to be highly embarrassing. The confidential settlement ensured that the information would not be made public.

The new National Security and Intelligence Committee to be created under Bill C-22 must be able to fully examine each and every detail of what was done by Canadian government officials that led to the torture of the three men.

The torture was significantly the result of activities carried out by a branch of the RCMP known as Project A-O Canada.

That branch was headed by Mike Cabana.

Cabana testified as a witness at the Arar Inquiry. Sometime after the report of Justice O’Connor from that inquiry, Mike Cabana was promoted to Deputy Commissioner of the RCMP. In my view, it is critical that the National Security and Intelligence Committee be able to examine in detail the actions of Cabana that led to and contributed to the torture of the three men, and be able to review whether his promotion to deputy commissioner was appropriate.

It is only through such detailed oversight that the new parliamentary committee will be able to ensure that similar torture and human rights abuses do not again result from the work of Canada’s national security agencies.

Paul Copeland has been involved in national security work through most of his 50 years of practising law. He was a special advocate in the Harkat and Almrei security certificate cases and was counsel for Abdullah Almalki in the Arar Inquiry and the Iacobucci Inquiry.

Source: Toronto Star

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Rajab 3. 1438 March 31, 2017

LOCAL

NEWS

Voters Not Sold on Clark — or NDP or Greens More than 60 per cent of British Columbians disapprove of the job Premier Christy Clark is doing — but an equal number believe the parties seeking to replace her have no plan for the province, a new public opinion poll has found. Clark’s approval rating dropped to 31 per cent in an Angus Reid Institute pollthat found twice as many people — 62 per cent — disapprove of the job she’s doing. Few were unsure of their opinion on the premier. “Clearly a lot of people don’t approve of her,” said Shachi Kurl, executive director of the Angus Reid Institute. They may still vote for her though, Kurl said, noting that Clark’s approval rating was even lower at 25 per cent a few months ahead of the 2013 election. In other bad news for Clark, another poll the institute released Friday found 76 per cent of respondents agreed with the statement that the BC Liberal Party “is only interested in helping its political donors and big business.” At the same time, the number of people naming the economy as their top issue dropped by 12 per cent from a year ago, with housing and health care emerging as concerns. Just 14 per cent said the economy was the most important issue, compared with 21 per cent who said it was housing and 19 per cent who said health care. Clark and the Liberals had a

slight edge as best to manage the economy, but NDP leader John Horgan and his party were seen as better on health care and housing. Green Party leader Andrew Weaver was seen as best on the environment. More than half of those surveyed said investing in public services, including health care and education, was their top priority, putting spending ahead of tax cuts, promoting jobs or balancing the province’s budget.

“Also working against the government on the economic file is the widespread sense that inequality in the province is growing,” the pollster’s report on the survey said.

Three-quarters said growing inequality is a “huge problem” for the province. Almost half disagreed with the statement that all a person needs to do to find success in B.C. is work hard. But the sense of unease does not necessarily translate to support for the other parties running against the Liberals in the May 9 election, Kurl said. The survey found 42 per cent of British Columbians approve of Horgan’s performance and 35 per cent disapproved. Twenty-three per cent were unsure. For Weaver, the approval rating was 36 per cent, disapproval 22 per cent and 42 per cent said they were unsure.

Kurl said it’s significant that the poll found 62 per cent don’t believe either opposition party has a real plan to help British Columbians. “That is something that jumps out for me,” she said. “That may ultimately be the trump card for the BC Liberals.” While the other parties may press Clark on the high number of people who feel left behind or squeezed in the economy, Kurl said, “I can see the premier saying, ‘I’m not perfect, but at least people don’t believe I don’t have a plan. If the opposition parties have plans, they need to do a better job communicating them to the public. If they don’t have plans, they need to create them quickly, she said. Kurl said the firm deliberately didn’t ask who people would vote for. While there tends to be interest in those numbers, she said, “They don’t always give us a sense of what are the issues that are driving the horse race numbers. You need to dig deeper.” The approval rating survey was conducted online between March 6 and 13 and included 5,404 adults across Canada. The B.C. election issues poll included a randomized online sample of 604 British Columbian adults surveyed between March 6 and 13. Similar surveys have a margin of error of plus or minus four per cent, 19 times out of 20.

Source: The Tyee

Rising housing costs may price many out of Vancouver: report Vancouver had almost 10,000 new homes under construction in 2016, a building boom that tops any year of the past half century. But most of those new homes didn’t match what existing city residents can afford. That’s why city planners say Vancouver needs to take a stronger role in shaping its housing supply for the future. If it doesn’t, there will be increasingly fewer places for singles’ households making less than $50,000 or family households making less than $80,000 who are trying to rent.

And an equally scarce situation for households making less than $150,000 who want to own something big enough for a family.

“We see a significant risk to renters,” said planner Dianna Hurford, as staff unrolled for councillors a pile of statistics and a preliminary sketch of where the city needs to go next. That sketch includes a focus on creating streams of housing that match the incomes of people who want to live here: more cheap rentals for singles; more cheap and multibedroom rentals for families; and more types of housing that families who are reasonably well off, but not wealthy, could afford to buy in Vancouver. The early ideas are to demand more from developers throughout the city to include affordable units within their projects; to encourage more infill; and to keep pushing to

get layers of help from the provincial and federal governments to bring down rents in projects. “We’re going to need significantly more help from senior governments to achieve the targets,” said the city’s director of housing policy, Abigail Bond, emphasizing that Vancouver can’t do everything alone. “We can’t spend our way out of this crisis. We don’t have enough revenue.” The city planners’ report included data specially commissioned on incomes and housing need in the city. It says the city needs to see three times the housing currently available for renters making less than $50,000 a year, as well as double what is currently available for families wanting to rent or buy.

The data echoed what employers in the city have been saying recently – that housing costs are getting more and more out of line for people working in the city. There are 80,000 sales and service jobs in the city that pay about $30,000 a year. Someone with that kind of work used to be able to afford a one-bedroom apartment in the city. Now, it takes an income of about $45,000 a year to be able to afford an older one-bedroom.

The 50,000 or so people working in the health and sciences sector in the city are better paid, at around $75,000 a year. So they can afford to rent a one-bedroom condo. But they wouldn’t have enough money

to buy one. Councillor George Affleck said he didn’t know, as he listened to the planners talk, whether to be pleased the city is doing something or depressed about what the situation is like. Another councillor, Melissa De Genova, said she is concerned that most of the emphasis seemed to be on creating more rental, when there’s a huge demand from many young families to be

able to buy homes. Staff are planning to present a final report in July and then kick off a pilot project aimed at fast-tracking a few ideas. That pilot would include giving affordable housing projects a kind of Nexus lane through the city’s notoriously cumbersome permitting process.

Source: Globe and Mail

work, so careers need to be put on hold,” Duclos told a news conference in Toronto, home to the highest child care costs in the country. “We can do better, and we must also do better.” To figure out how, and to learn what is and isn’t working when it comes to child care in Canada, the Liberal government will to spend $195 million in the coming years on research to close data gaps on child care. The money, coming out of funds promised in this month’s budget, could potentially create 40,000 subsidized spaces for low and modest-income families over the next three years, and help more parents enter the workforce. The plan announced Wednesday splits the money into two pots: $95 million to close data gaps, and $100 million in an innovation fund that Duclos said would aim to find ways to get the most bang for the government’s buck.

Last week’s budget said a lack of affordable, high-quality child care means some parents have to “sacrifice retirement savings” to cover fees of up to $20,000 a year, or leave the workforce because “child care is unavailable or unaffordable.” The Liber-

als have promised to spend $7 billion over a decade on child care, starting with $500 million in the new fiscal year that starts in April, increasing to $870 million annually by 2026. Part of the money will also go towards funding indigenous child care on and off-reserve. For advocates who have waited years for the federal government to kick in cash to help expand and subsidize child care services, the money is seen as a start, but far from enough to cover the country from coast to coast. Funding also can’t flow without the Liberals first signing oneon-one funding agreements with the provinces and territories, a two-step process that was started more than a year ago. At their last meeting, federal, provincial and territorial leaders agreed to some of the broad wording about the principles underpinning the a multilateral framework agreement that agreement that would lay out the key policy goals of the child care money. Officials negotiating the detail have yet to agree on a final text, after which the Liberals will have to negotiate one-on-one funding deals with provinces and territories.

Liberals plan to spend $195M on research into child care in Canada

The federal minister in charge of crafting a national child care plan says that if the Liberals are going to take gender equity seriously, then they must do the same when it comes to the soaring cost of child care.

Child care costs across the country, which can reach upwards of $20,000 a year and rival the cost of housing, can force new mothers to stay out of the workforce, So-

cial Development Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said Wednesday. For those who can afford a space, they may only be able to find a spot far from home, making accessible, affordable and quality child care a necessity, he said -- and finding it a serious issue for parents who want to work outside the home. “For many parents, the absurd reality is that they cannot afford to

15

Rajab 3. 1438 March 31, 2017

byTareq Baconi

POLITICS

Gaza: Israel’s war drums are getting louder

On Friday, a senior member of Hamas’s military wing, Mazen Faqha, was assassinated in the Gaza Strip by armed gunmen. It was an assassination tactic not seen in Gaza for at least a decade.

Faqha was a leading member of Hamas’ alQassam Brigades in the West Bank. In 2003, he was sentenced to life imprisonment in Israel for his role in planning attacks following Israel’s assassination of Salah Shehadeh, then al-Qassam’s leader.

Faqha was set free in the prisoner-exchange deal that released Gilad Shalit in return for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners in 2011. He was delivered from prison straight to the Gaza Strip, where he resided until his death.

The timing and the tactic of Faqha’s killing raise questions about the possibility of another conflagration between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Palestinian factions in Gaza agree unanimously that Israel was behind the assassination. Israel had accused Faqha of planning attacks against it from the occupied West Bank while he lived in the coastal enclave. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied involvement.

Faqha’s assassination comes at a critical time.

Hamas recently elected Yahya Sinwar as its leader within the Gaza Strip. Sinwar is a senior military figure within Hamas, and is often described as a hardliner and an ideologue. Having replaced Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’s soft-spoken Gaza-based political leader, analysts began speaking of a shift in power within Hamas.

Faqha’s seniority would justify retaliation, and Hamas may respond to maintain its legitimacy among its constituents.

They speculated that Hamas’ military wing and its constituency in Gaza was strengthening its influence on the group’s decisionmaking at the expense of the seemingly more pragmatic political wing as well as its external constituency.

Concluding that Sinwar’s election has moved Hamas towards a more intransigent military stance is premature. For one thing, the movement-wide elections are still ongoing. Ismail Haniyeh and Musa Abu Marzouk are both competing for the top job to replace Khaled Meshaal. Both these leaders are likely to maintain Meshaal’s track record of diplomatic engagement.

Hamas still operates a Shura (consultative) system, which ensures there is room to counterbalance intransigent voices. Moreover, Hamas has been actively promoting speculation that it is on the cusp of issuing an updated charter. This document, allegedly, will commit Hamas to an official recognition of the 1967 borders, while withholding recognition of Israel.

This is not a new development.

Nonetheless, this gesture - and the mere act of revising its charter - can be interpreted as a significant sign that Hamas is shifting direction. Most importantly, however, is that

Sinwar himself cannot be dismissed as an intransigent ideologue. For many who know him and have engaged with him directly, he is a calculating strategist and a pragmatic thinker.

He is more likely to be the figure to lead Hamas’ military wing towards a calculated strategy for reaching the movement’s political goals than to pursue fruitless conflagrations with Israel. Improved relations with Egypt and the prospect of reviving ties with Iran, following Sinwar’s election, indicate that under his leadership, Hamas in Gaza does not currently desire any major operations that could undermine this trajectory.

This does not mean that a conflagration might not happen. Faqha’s seniority would justify retaliation, and Hamas may respond to maintain its legitimacy among its constituents. Concurrently, the opaque manner in which Faqha was assassinated presents Hamas with some flexibility, in terms of how, when and whether to retaliate.

Given Faqha’s origins, an attack might well be forthcoming from the West Bank, rather than the Gaza Strip. Similarly, Hamas might choose to focus instead internally and to wage a war on collaborators with Israel who presumably made this attack possible, and who represent a security breach within Hamas.

Hamas’ reluctance to move towards an all-out escalation is not shared by Israel.

Whether or not Israel was responsible for Faqha’s assassination, the government has been actively threatening the ceasefire that has been holding in the Gaza Strip since 2014.

Measures to ease the blockade on Gaza, agreed upon in that ceasefire discussion, are yet to be fully implemented. While some aspects of the blockade have been eased, the number of Gazans allowed to cross the border into or out of Gaza has, in reality, dropped.

The recently released State Comptroller report investigating Israel’s actions in Gaza in 2014 has offered a scathing assessment of the country’s conduct in the war. It has out-

Opening

as with more provocations. Avigdor Lieberman, Israel’s defence minister, has asserted that another war with Gaza is now a certainty.

While an escalation at this point would not benefit Hamas, the same cannot be said for Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing legal and political challenges at home, most obviously from other reinvigorated right-wing politicians such as Naftali Bennett.

An operation in Gaza would allow Israel’s politicians to test the limits of the Trump administration’s support for Israeli military operations.

A show of force in the Gaza Strip would assuage some of Netanyahu’s critics and deflect from their insistence on pursuing Israeli annexationist policies in the West Bank.

These calls for annexation have surged now that a friendly American administration is in lined an absence of any strategy on Israel’s office. part regarding Gaza, an absence of efforts to prevent a war, and the state’s lack of pre- An assault on Gaza would allow Israel’s paredness to address the certainty of Gaza’s politicians to test the limits of the Trump imminent collapse into a humanitarian ca- administration’s support for Israeli military tastrophe. operations in Gaza as well as in its northern Israel’s approach towards Gaza remains a borders. It will also elucidate the impact of

dangerous and reactionary stance rooted in the collective punishment of two million Palestinians. Despite warnings from Israel’s military establishment about the need to stabilise Gaza or engage with Hamas, Israeli politicians remain committed to their “mowing the lawn” approach.

Rather than lifting the Israeli blockade, they [Israeli politicians] engage in intermittent warfare to maintain Gaza as an isolated and defeated territory. Reminiscent of the months before the 2014 assault, Israeli war drums have been getting louder. Last month, Israel arrested Rafat Nasif, a senior Hamas member, in the West Bank, ostensibly to pressure the movement to enter prisoner exchange negotiations.

Projectiles from Gaza fired in response to such provocations are described as hostile acts that necessitate Israeli “self-defence”.

Hamas has assumed no responsibility for projectiles from Gaza and has taken significant steps to limit rocket fire. Nonetheless, over the past few months, Israel has been responding with increased ferocity as well

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Sinwar’s recent election on Hamas and effectively force Hamas’s military wing to be less strategic and more reactionary.

Israeli military actions would undermine any reorientation within Hamas towards a revised charter or other efforts that might indicate pragmatism, a self-fulfilling policy that enables Israel to continue justifying its blockade on the Gaza Strip.

“Mowing the lawn” is not just a euphemism, and it is clear that Israel is entertaining another round of fighting on the besieged strip.

Such a showdown would be catastrophic for the Gaza Strip. Nothing short of lifting the blockade and moving beyond a military prism for dealing with Gaza would end this cycle of violence, which appears to be rearing its ugly head once more.

Tareq Baconi is the US-based fellow for alShabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network.

His book, Hamas: The Politics of Resistance, Entrenchment in Gaza, is forthcoming with Stanford University Press.

Source: Al Jazeera

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Rajab 3. 1438 March 31, 2017

POLITICS

How To Move Forward From The M-103 Islamophobia Debate

By: Thomas Woodley If you’re like me, Canada’s debate around Islamophobia has left you drained and disillusioned. Both the Liberals and Conservatives treated this important social issue as if it were political football, seeking to gain cheap yardage with seemingly little concern for the lives involved. Muslim Canadians deserve better.

Many Canadians might be surprised to learn that back in October, Canada passed an anti-Islamophobia motion by unanimous consent. House of Common petition e411, sponsored by Liberal MP Frank Baylis was the basis for this motion. Sadly, at the time, Liberals didn’t have the political courage to propose a motion on Islamophobia before the House. Instead, it was NDP leader Thomas Mulcair who showed the sensitivity and political resolve to present this motion, and did so successfully on October 26.

Back in October, the Conservatives didn’t ask for a definition of Islamophobia before giving consent to the motion. But anyone could have looked up the Google or Oxford definition: “Islamophobia: Dislike of or prejudice against Islam or Muslims, especially as a political force.”

Of course, the value of motions is purely symbolic. So when the October 26 motion got literally zero coverage in mainstream Canadian media, Muslim Canadian leaders were rightfully frustrated. This shunning of the news of the motion by Canadian media could even be considered a form of Islamophobia in and of itself.

Perhaps disappointed that a motion that received unanimous consent received literally no attention from the Canadian public, Liberal MP Iqra Khalid submitted her own motion on Islamophobia -- M-103 -- in early

December. Her motion went beyond the October 26 motion in that it suggested a study on religious discrimination in Canada, and systematic collection of data on hate crimes.

Religiously motivated hate crimes span multiple government disciplines, and statistics in these areas are notoriously inconsistent. If this motion were passed, at least Parliament’s attention on this issue would last more than three seconds.

Most Canadians heard about Khalid’s antiIslamophobia motion when it finally came up for debate on February 15. That’s when Conservative leaders and voters went bonkers over the motion, suggesting all sorts of outrageous scenarios: some about religious favouritism; some about free speech; and some about how Canada’s criminal code would somehow get replaced by Sharia law.

In a case of collective amnesia, the Conservatives also forgot they had already unanimously supported an anti-Islamophobia motion in October, and now demanded to know how the Liberals defined Islamophobia. Chatelaine’s Sadiya Ansari wrote an article that addresses all of these fallacious concerns, and more.

But the Liberals acted in an equally partisan manner as they responded to the Conservatives’ objections. They too had forgotten that they hadn’t had the political courage to put forth the motion in October. Liberal Heritage Minister Melanie Joly was exquisitely inarticulate as she tried to justify the motion as written, and the football began in earnest when the Conservatives proposed a counter-motion that didn’t “single out” Islam for special protection. (Those familiar with the “Black Lives Matter” vs. “All lives matter” discussion will understand the cynicism in this Conservative move.)

The NDP, as well as Conservative leadership candidate Michael Chong had no issue supporting both motions.

But the Liberals suggested that the Conservative motion would render M-103 moot, refused to vote for it, and ensured its defeat.

By doing so, the Liberals could be blamed for entrenching the misconceptions around the motion, and prolonging groundless fears about condemnation of Islamophobia.

If the October 26 motion had gone unnoticed, M-103 and its aftermath were to dominate Canadian headlines for weeks.

But if you think the brouhaha over M-103 is finished, you’re wrong. According to the motion, Parliament’s Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage is due to report its findings and recommendations on the issues within 240 days. So if the partisan footballers have their way, M-103 and outlandish reactions to Islamophobia could be headline news again before the end of the year.

It’s fair to ask why the committee on heritage is supposed to research issues of racism, discrimination, hate crimes, and crime data.

If you’re like me, you might have thought Heritage Canada was focused on the Canada 150 celebrations this year -- and that’s what its webpage suggests. Why isn’t Immigration and Citizenship involved in the process, where expertise in integration and assimilation of newcomers and refugees is centralized? And why isn’t Justice enlisted, where you have all the experts in legal interpretation, and the collection and synthesis of

crime data? It’s fair to question why M-103 puts any responsibility under heritage.

The answer may lie in the fact that the Minister of Heritage, Melanie Joly, is trying to enhance her own visibility and credentials among the Muslims of her own riding: a highly ethnic, highly Arab, highly Muslim riding. She was repeatedly at Khalid’s side during M-103 photo ops, although neither she nor Heritage have any expertise or history with religious discrimination. It may also explain why one CTV reporter felt compelled to report at one press conference that, “Joly jumped in several times during the press conference to answer questions directed at Khalid, even when reporters asked for Khalid to respond.”

Some argue that forcing the question has exacerbated the tensions around Islamophobia in Canada. But recognizing and acknowledging a problem are the first steps to resolving it. The discussion on Islamophobia and religious discrimination will continue, whether as a result of M-103, or for other reasons. But hopefully next time, it will take place without the partisan politics and opportunism that have haunted the past two months. Muslim Canadians deserve no less.

Source: Huffington Post Canada

Muslim prayers in schools get provincial endorsement following intense meeting

The morning after a tense meeting at the Peel board — where a protester tore up a Quran and others yelled Islamophobic comments — two provincial ministers spoke out in support of schools providing space for Muslim students’ Friday prayers.

“I have met with the leadership of Peel and have obviously been very concerned about what I’ve seen and heard,” said Education Minister Mitzie Hunter who, along with Children and Youth Services Minister Michael Coteau, issued a written statement backing the board. “… It felt important to Minister Coteau and I to really reinforce our expectations … there’s just no tolerance for discrimination of any sort,” she told reporters at Queen’s Park. “We don’t tolerate issues of racism and Islamophobia.”

At issue in the Peel public board is some schools providing space for Muslim students to pray as a group, on Fridays. The practice has been going on for two decades — as it has in some Toronto public schools — but only recently been targeted by critics by way of protest and petitions demanding the 20 minutes of group prayer, called Jummah, be banned.

Critics believe it leads to segregation among students and inappropriate exposure to religion in a secular school system.

But Hunter and Coteau said allowing such prayers are in full compliance with the human rights code and mandatory board religious accommodation guidelines.

“We encourage parents and students to have

an ongoing dialogue with their schools if an accommodation is required or whether there are concerns,” they wrote.

“While it is our expectation that all public school boards comply with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Ontario Human Rights Code, we know that hate continues to spread, even in the most diverse regions of our province.”

At the Peel board’s meeting Wednesday night, tempers flared and police — who have been called in to recent meetings for extra security — cleared the room after about 80 protesters could not be calmed.

One ripped up a copy of the Quran, and stomped on it, as others yelled anti-Muslim

comments. The board says it has turned the matter over to police.

“To say it’s disrespectful is a great understatement,” said Chair Janet McDougald said. “It’s hateful — the social media has just been abysmal, it’s just been awful, and some of our students are feeling a little unsafe because of it.

Trustees and staff have answered critics’ questions many times to no avail, and McDougald said they have an anti-Muslim agenda.

In response, the board created an information sheet that answers all of the questions the board, and “staff will use this sheet in response — and nothing else — in responding

to questions and concerns including social media.”

The Ontario Public School Boards’ Association issued a statement saying “the schools of Ontario welcome and provide a safe place for students who practice the very broadest range of religions and beliefs.”

Hunter and Coteau say the Peel board “has been working closely with their students and the community for more than a decade on religious accommodation in their schools and we are pleased to see their commitment to inclusion. “… Realizing the promise of Ontario’s diversity is a continuous process grounded in actively respecting and valuing the full range of our differences.”

That the prayers have been happening for so long without controversy demonstrate how it’s a “been a pretty well-oiled practice for many, many years,” said McDougald, adding students sign in and out of the empty classroom space.

The issue in Peel has become so heated that even Brampton Mayor Linda Jeffrey weighed in.

“Letting Muslim students pray for 20 minutes in an empty space with the supervision of volunteer staff does not cause any financial hardship,” she said in a written statement.

Provincial MPPs recently passed their own anti-Islamophobia motion as a show of solidarity against discrimination toward Muslims.

17

Rajab 3. 1438 March 31, 2017

LIFESTYLE

Finding a Home in Islam

By: Abe Levy The days of Damian Williams running with his fellow rappers, pursuing fame, women and a hip-hop image are over. The 26-yearold turned in baggy jeans for long robes around the house. He sports a curly beard and is studying Arabic with his wife so they can read the Quran together.

Williams, who now goes by Shaheed, is a convert to Islam, a religion that has brought a sense of truth and direction the Christianity of his youth and reviews of other religions didn’t provide, he said.

Now, he speaks periodically at the Muslim Community Center in north Wichita as one of an estimated 5,000 Muslims in the Wichita area.

His discovery of Islam started with his childhood comic book collection, he said.

A fan of the “X-Men,” Williams learned of the character “Thor,” the god of thunder from Norse mythology.

It expanded his view of the world and religions beyond his Sunday school and youth group upbringing at St. Paul AME Church in Wichita.

When he was in high school, a member told him about an Old Testament verse that prohibited eating pork. It surprised Williams and made him more curious about the Bible.

Later, he found verses about honoring the Sabbath, which he also didn’t think Christians observed.

By mid-high school, he told his father he would no longer go to church. He was an agnostic.

His passion became the Flatland Brigade, a local group of about eight rappers, who performed at parties.

There was drinking, carousing and talk of

pimping. The lifestyle smacked of arrogance, he said.

“I despise that behavior,” he said. “That’s not being a man. They think it’s being in a gang or having a gun or going to prison or mistreating a woman.”

Williams’ older brother told him about the Nation of Islam, a controversial movement of some African-American Muslims. Williams never joined.

A fellow rapper who had converted to orthodox Islam talked to Williams about the faith.

Williams began to study Islam seriously and was soon persuaded by its teaching that there is one God to whom he could pray without a mediator.

He admired the closeness among brothers and sisters of Islam despite their national and cultural differences.

It was a religion of structure that he knew he needed. It taught obedience and submission to God and his law.

And he was persuaded by Islam’s teaching that people ought to be accountable to God for their actions. The Christian idea of Christ bearing sins on people’s behalf, he said, weakened personal accountability.

“There’s no free ride,” he said of Islam, unlike Christianity’s teachings on grace and sin.

For weeks, Williams’ friend would ask if he was ready to accept Islam. Finally, in 1996, at age 19, Williams met with an imam, a Muslim leader.

After speaking with him, Williams recited the “shahada,” a statement of faith that is the first step in accepting Islam: “I bear witness that there is no God but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is

the messenger of Allah.”

The room full of men now became a room of brothers who came up one by one to hug and congratulate him.

He took a bath when he returned home as is customary for new converts. Still, it would take another three years, he said, before his new faith took hold of his life.

“I just got fed up with feeling regret with the way my life was going,” he said. “You never know which day is going to be your last.”

He listened to more sermons on tape, read books and attended services at the mosque, sometimes staying there overnight to pray and meditate.

As a Muslim, he knew promiscuity was wrong and wanted to marry and start a family. He followed traditional Islamic customs in seeking out a wife.

He spoke with several women about marriage, including a former co-worker, Nicole Childers, who was often at parties where he rapped.

She had also converted to Islam from Christianity the year after he had.

He proposed to her on a Tuesday and on Saturday they were married. She had accepted his dowry of $200, a silver necklace that said “Allah” on it and fragrant oil, among other gifts.

During the five-minute ceremony, no rings were exchanged. She stood in a room nearby within earshot of the imam and her future husband.

Today, they have three children, ages 3, 2 and six months. Williams works as a water meter reader for the city of Wichita.

The hip-hop life is gone. A bookcase full of Islamic teachings and the Quran are his focus these days.

“To me, Islam has the answer to racism, discrimination, feminism, abortion, high murder rates and drug selling,” he said, “because it’s trying to show human beings how to live their lives right.”

Source: Wichita Eagle

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Rajab 3. 1438 March 31, 2017

FAMILY

THINGS YOUR KIDS SHOULD BE DOING INSTEAD OF HOMEWORK There are many aspects of my more than decade-long career as a teacher that I’m proud of. My reputation for giving lots and lots of homework is not one of them.

For most of my teaching career, I taught fifth or sixth grade. Sometimes I gave more than two hours of homework. Kids complained a lot, though parents rarely did, at least not to my face. I think parents mostly felt the same way I did: that homework was the best way to practice new skills, that it teaches responsibility and helps to develop a strong work ethic, and that it’s an opportunity to reflect on new learning.

But most of all, my students’ parents and I were more than a little afraid that our kids would fall behind – behind their classmates in the next classroom, behind the kids in a neighboring school, behind the kids in other countries. Homework was considered one of many ways to prevent that from happening.

I wasn’t entirely wrong about all of that, and I still believe a lot of those things. But only for middle and high school students (and not hours of assignments). Not for elementary students, and certainly not for kindergarteners or preschoolers.

When I entered a doctoral program in education policy, I learned about the research that suggests that homework is not good for young kids. Not only does it fail to improve the academic performance of elementary students, but it might actually be damaging to kids’ attitudes toward school, and to their physical health. In a review of available research studies, Harris Cooper, a leading researcher who has spent decades studying the effect of homework, concluded that “there is no evidence that any amount of homework improves the academic performance of elementary students.”

When I became a parent during graduate school, I experienced for myself just how tired and overwhelmed kids can be after a full day at daycare, preschool, or elementary school, often followed by more after school activities. After hours spent sitting and engaging in mostly adult-directed activities, children’s minds and bodies need other kinds of experiences when they get home, not more academics.

It’s not just that homework itself has no academic benefits for little kids, and may even be harmful, it’s also that homework is replacing other fun, developmentally appropriate, and valuable activities – activities that help them grow into healthy, happy adults.

So, what are some of the things kids could be doing in those hours between the end of the school day and bed time?

JUMP ROPE. An important part of how young kids’ minds develop is through free, self-directed play.

According to David Elkind, Ph.D., author of The Power of Play: How Spontaneous, Imaginative Activities Lead to Happier, Healthier Children, free play is critical now more than ever, as recesses are shortened or eliminated, and kids’ calendars are busier than ever.

“Through play,” Elkind writes, “children create new learning experiences, and those self-created experiences enable them to acquire social, emotional, and intellectual skills they could not acquire any other way.”

TALK WITH PARENTS. I’ve heard from countless friends about their daily battles with their elementary-aged kids struggling to do homework, and the way it’s negatively affected their relationships.

Instead, of parents nagging their overtired kids to do homework they’re too young to do independently, families should spent much time talking together about their day.

In fact, conversation is the best way for all of us – especially young children – to learn about our world and cultivate empathy.

ing around animals can also be found when kids care for injured animals and take on care-taking responsibilities for other people’s pets.

PLANT A GARDEN. Kids who work in gardens may have higher achievement scores in science than those who don’t. That’s because they’re actively engaging in scientific concepts and practicing math skills as they learn about plants.

SLEEP. The National Sleep Foundation estimates that between 25 and 30% of children aren’t getting enough sleep. Lack of sleep can cause all sorts of problems in kids, including poor attention, behavior problems, academic difficulties, irritability, and weight gain. But even small amounts of additional sleep can have big impacts. One study found that only 20 additional minutes of sleep can improve kids’ grades.

INDEPENDENT READING. Most of us know that developing good habits (and hopefully a love of reading) is critical to doing well at school. However, homework can actually interfere with the time that kids can spend on reading.

HANG OUT AT GRANDMA’S. Encouraging multi-generational relationships can yield many lessons for kids. They can learn how other adult role models in their lives who love them handle conflict, create and negotiate rules and routines, and embrace family traditions.

Participate in a community service project.

Through volunteering, kids can become more grateful, empathetic, and feel more connected to the wider community.

DRAW A PICTURE. For kids who have trouble expressing themselves verbally, drawing can be a way for them to relax and communicate in a different way.

DO A SCIENCE EXPERIMENT. Kids are naturally curious and want to know

LISTEN TO A BOOK. Studies show that kids who are read aloud to do better in school and have better vocabularies.

DIG IN THE DIRT. Another type of play, sensory play, is also critical for kids’ development. When kids knead clay or finger paint, they are stimulating their senses. “Sensory experiences,” explains one early childhood educator, “provide open-ended opportunities where the process is more important than the product; how children use materials is much more important than what they make with them.”

PLAYING WITH A FRIEND IN A SANDBOX. Parallel play, or the type of play in which kids play next to each other, begins in toddlers. But even for older kids, parallel play can help develop critical social skills.

HELP WITH DINNER. Kids who learn about new foods, and how to prepare them, may be more likely to choose more nutritious foods later on.

WALK THE DOG. Kids who help take care of family pets may be less anxious, less likely to develop allergies and asthma, and are more active.

VOLUNTEER AT AN ANIMAL SHELTER. Even kids who don’t have pets at home can benefit from being around animals. The emotional and psychological benefits of be-

ZONE OUT. Just as important as play is “down time.” The authors of “Overloaded and Underprepared: Strategies for Stronger Schools and Happy, Successful Kids“ argue that every kids needs PDF: playtime, downtime, and family time.

Downtime is when kids are allowed to literally do not much of anything, like sit around and listen to music or stare at the ceiling.

These moments allow children to reflect, rest, and reset their minds and bodies.

MEDITATE. Kids also benefit from meditation. Studies have found that mindfulness and meditation can improve behavior, focus, and reduce impulsiveness.

CREATE A COLLAGE. “Constructive play” – building a fort, making a snowman – is goal-oriented and involves kids building something using tools and materials. Constructive play also has an important role in developing children’s communication, mathematical, and socioemotional skills.

LEARN TO KNIT. Knitting, sewing, and crocheting are hobbies that can help enhance fine motor skills, improve coordination, and develop longer attention spans.

TAKE PICTURES. “Photography can help develop a child’s voice, vision and identity as it pertains to their family, friends and community,” according to one photographer who teaches photography to children in Canada.

WORK ON A PUZZLE. Being able to play on their own without adults (called “solitary play”) builds confidence in kids and makes them more relaxed.

GO UP A SLIDE BACKWARDS. “Risky” play — activities like climbing a tree — is good for kids. Children need to explore their own limits, to be able to assess risks, and to learn how to negotiate their environments.

Researchers theorize that risky play, found across all cultures and in other mammals, has a evolutionary role in preparing offspring for life without their caretakers.

WRITE A STORY. By writing down stories, kids can express their feelings, stretch their imaginations, and practice their fine motor skills.

how things work. Scientific exploration outside the classroom may be particularly effective at teaching kids about scientific thinking.

PLAY DRESS UP. The significance of imaginative “pretend” or “fantasy” play for kids’ creativity and future problem-solving skills is difficult to overstate. When kids pretend they’re superheroes or talk to stuffed animals, they’re learning about social roles, setting the stage for later learning, and processing ideas from the world around them. In fact, some research suggests that kids who don’t engage in fantasy play may actually struggle in the classroom later.

WRESTLE WITH A SIBLING. “Rough and tumble” play is not the same as aggression. It’s vigorous, free-form, wholebody, energetic, happy play. Kids learn decision-making skills, relieve stress, improve their ability to read social cues, and enhance their cardio-vascular health.

CLEAN THEIR ROOM. When kids are spending their afternoons working on homework, there’s often not time for them to help out with housework and other chores. A University of Minnesota researcher, Marty Rossman, found that one of the best predictors of a kid’s future success is whether they contributed to household chores as a young child.

According to Rossman, “Through participating in household tasks, parents are teaching children responsibility, how to contribute to family life, a sense of empathy and how to take care of themselves.”

RIDE A BIKE. Kids who are physically active – as well as adults! – have stronger hearts, lungs, and bones. They are less likely to develop cancer or be overweight and more likely to feel good about themselves.

LISTEN TO A LONG BEDTIME STORY. Babies, children, and adult sleep better when they have a regular (not rushed) bedtime routine. Kids who don’t have bedtime routines are more likely to have behavior problems, be hyperactive, and suffer from emotional difficulties.

PLAY “SIMON SAYS.” During cooperative games, kids collaborate to reach a common goal. There may be a leader, and kids start to learn about social contracts and social rules.

When homework is assigned to young children, it doesn’t improve academic learning.

In any case, the learning done in school is only one form of learning. Homework takes away from the time available to engage in endless other forms of learning, such as social, physical, and emotional, as well as rest.

Our kids deserve a chance to spend all their other hours outside of school doing their most important job of all: being a kid.

19

I

Rajab 3. 1438 March 31, 2017

YOUTH

Resisting Raising Children Who Feel Entitled

By Jan Faull, M.Ed. t’s easy to see how children can begin to feel entitled. Daughter wants a doll and Mom buys it. Next she demands a dollhouse, Dad says no, daughter pitches a fit in the toy store, so Dad buys it. Years go by...the child wants to take piano lessons, Mom and Dad agree to the lessons plus they buy a brand new piano. Then daughter wants to join the swim team, Mom and Dad concur and so join the team’s sponsoring country club. The family goes to Hawaii every spring for a vacation; the child begins to expect it.

Not only that...rather than teaching the child to save and wait for certain items, the parents find themselves buying videogames, clothes and gadgets because the daughter’s friends have them. Soon the child begins to feel that she’s entitled to whatever her friends have. The parents pull out their credit card and buy whatever the child wants; it’s the parenting path of least resistance.

Now at age 10 she’s taking on an air of entitlement. She acts as if she’s entitled to a cell phone, going to the mall with friends, and pierced ears. If she asks and the parents say “no”, she’s indignant. She pouts, sulks, and claims they’re being mean for no reason.

The parents know it’s not in their child’s best interest to indulge her every whim.

They want to change their ways but realize that they’ve dug themselves into a parenting hole and don’t know how to get out of it.

Okay, let’s back up. Certainly children have some entitlements. What are they?

Adequate food, shelter, warmth, mental and emotional health, intellectual challenges, education, fun, play, reasonable choices, creative endeavors, emotional and physical protection, love, sufficient clothing, fair treatment and good relationships.

Children are not entitled to having all their wants indulged unconditionally. When they’re babies, yes; but as they get older, satisfying their wants (as opposed to needs)

should be appropriate to their age and maturity. Children don’t fare well in the short or long term if all their wishes are magically granted.

So when a child makes a request for something that she wants, parents have four options: • Say “yes.” Do so if you deem the activity or object to be appropriate and beyond the child’s ability to acquire on his own.

• Tell him that you will not provide whatever it is that he’s wanting, but that he can find a way on his own to acquire it.

• Teach him how to acquire it. Help the child save allowances by setting up a savings account at the bank. When he receives money for a gift, he can add it to her account. He can complete extra household chores such as cleaning the garage or mowing the lawn to earn money; these chores should be beyond the daily chores he’s required to complete, such as helping with the dishes or putting away laundry.

• Say “no.” Explain why it’s inappropriate.

Or tell him that you will help him acquire it when he’s older.

If the child goes into a tirade because you’re not indulging her demand, stay with her, as long as she is emotional, but stick with your decision. To deny a child something to which she feels entitled is painful in the short run, but in the long run the child learns to wait for gratification and to make plans to reach a goal.

Children need to know that all they have doesn’t appear by magic or come from money at the ATM machine; rather, they come as a result of planning, hard work, and discipline. You do your child a disservice if she learns that insulting parents, pouting or temper tantrums bring her what she wants.

It’s also important to teach children gratitude and appreciation. It can be as simple as telling your child, “I’m buying this bicycle for you because I love you and I want you to have it. I hope you appreciate it and are grateful.” Also, it is helpful for the parent to model an attitude of gratitude and

appreciation. And attribute good fortune to hard work, not luck or chance or because you’re more special or better than others.

Also, think out loud in regard to financial matters. When you decide to plan and save for a new item, tell your child how you will do so. If you restrain from buying something or going somewhere, allow your child to see you mull over the decision; modeling the discipline of denying yourself instant gratification.

Most people will agree that children born into privileged circumstances need to be taught responsibility to help others with less, to give to the community, to be humble, and not to flaunt there privileged lifestyle.

When you do allow your child a privilege, make sure you communicate that there are conditions attached: • A cell phone is a privilege; it comes the responsibility to keep track of minutes, pay the bill, use it where and when it’s appropriate.

• A car is a privilege; it comes the respon-

sibility to observe the speed limit, keep it clean, pay for insurance and gas, and obey traffic laws.

• A college education is a privilege; it comes with the responsibility to be candid about living arrangements, grades and plans for graduation.

In parenting there’s a constant turn-over of power and control from the parent to the child, a constant evolving from dependence to independence and a constant evolving from more entitlements to fewer entitlements.

Parents and teachers report that children who learn the discipline of denying instant gratification have better long-term outcomes; they also have better scores on Scholastic Aptitude Tests. It builds a child’s character when he can make plans to reach a goal rather than feeling that he’s entitled to it. Parents serve their children well when they prevent children from taking on an attitude of entitlement.

Source:www.parentinvolvementmatters.org/

Family Fun Day at Muslim Youth Centre The Muslim Youth Centre hosted a successful Family Fun Day on Saturday, March 25, 2017. The event offered something for everyone - games for the kids, face painting, prizes, goody bags and delicious food.

There were team running races and even tug of war. The Doodle Girls were on site for beautiful face painting.

20

Rajab 3. 1438 March 31, 2017

WOMEN

VOICES OF MUSLIM WOMEN

With the increase in reports of Islamophobia attacks, discussion of the oppression of Muslim women, and the endless debate of Islam’s place in the west, a common theme presents itself; Muslim women are not given the opportunity to voice their perspectives. Muslim women have a lot to say and therefore, as a form of empowerment, Muslim Food Bank in partnership with Kwantlen’s Visual Media Workshop and Freed Education Co, will be holding its first Voices of Muslim Women Workshop on Kwantlen’s Surrey Campus through the month of April. Thanks to the generous support of the community sponsors, Bombay Collection, Bombay Couture and Astra Dental, twenty Muslim women, ages ranging from 15-72 will have the opportunity to undertake the digital storytelling program and earn a KPU certificate. The objective of this community education program is to provide a platform for women to discuss their stories, their dreams, and their fears in a safe space. Though they share a title of “Muslim woman” they also experience several differences in terms of upbringing, culture, language which provides a setting to further learn from each other.

The workshops will feature discussions on privilege, Islamophobia, identity and the purpose and impact of presenting a digital story. The students come different backgrounds, cultures and ages but are all eager to tell their stories and to come together to meet with other encouraging and inspiring Muslim women. Meet a few of our students: Nidha Yaqub is excited to share stories that will create better dialogue in our communities in issues such as Mental Heath, the female Muslim Identity and more. Nidha is a Canadian-Muslim-Pakistani who is completing her Bachelors in Child and Youth Care at the University of the Fraser Valley and later plans to pursue her Masters in Art Therapy.

She is an Executive Director with the HOPE project which works towards empowering Muslim youth that deal with challenges relating to addictions, behavioral and mental health concerns.

She is one of the founders of the Breathing OF Room which is a space where she works collaboratively to create dialogue, share perspectives and address some of the social causes of mental health issues by holding a regular meet up once a month. She hopes to one day open up her own youth centre.

Awan MalawiFor more information: aisha.amijee@kpu.ca ya, is looking 778.846.5451 forward to learn digital storytelling skills to sto-

It’s Your Choice

By: Shabnam Khan - FamilCounsellor Stop for a moment and think about your life. How’s your health, your relationship and your sense of spiritual serenity? Your experiences today are a result of your past choices, patterns and habits. Are you happy with the way you’re living or have you fallen into a less-than-healthy habit that you just can’t seem to climb out of?

NOBODY’S PERFECT. We all have at least one pattern of behavior that doesn’t serve us. We eat or drink or work too much. We choose friendships that don’t really honor us, and we react instead of responding in challenging moments. Yet in most cases, we still manage to function. Sometimes our negative patterns have small costs – simply slowing down our progress- and at other times, the price we pay for our poor choices are devastating. These choices can ruin our health, relationship, career or even our family life.

You may be overeating to find comfort, drinking too much to relieve stress, or spending too many hours at the office to avoid tension at home. You have to become fully aware of the situation. The only way to do this is by being honest with yourself. The key to making lasting, positive change is understanding where your negative pattern of behavior comes from.

There are healthy and unhealthy ways to meet the needs in our lives. If the decisions are based on unhealthy habits, it moves us away from greater empower-

ries that have been waiting to be told.

Awan is a 72 year old Muslim woman from Ba, Fiji. She is one of 13 children. Awan moved to Canada on October 10th, 1970 from Lautoka with $100 (borrowed), her husband and two children. She got a job at the hospital.

Later Awan and her husband created a business Binaka Building Maintenance.

In her family and community Awan is known as the Culinary Queen. In her free time she enjoys gardening, watching Hindi movies and laughing with her grandchildren.

Naveen Zafar is a community developer who is a strong believer of the power of education. She has been involved within higher education for six years and in the community for nearly fifteen years. She is driven by helping others and collaborating with individuals and organizations towards the betterment of the community. Along with being a BBA-Marketing Management graduate, she is a TEDx Speaker and the Cofounder of two University Clubs. As the President of the Muslim Student Association club at KPU she organized interfaith dialogues, activities and events with community members to address misconceptions about Islam to foster a safer, inclusive environment for visible minorities.

Hosna Shendandi is a grade 9 student at Frank Hurt. She loves to dance and express herself. She’s always energetic and loves to make people smile. She loves music and is a super geek. Thrill is something she’s always seeking but is also super shy. Though, she is also very deep and loves to write poetry on her own time.

They will create their own digital stories that showcase their journeys that will later be presented at a Film Festival on May 17, 2017 on Surrey campus from 7-9pm. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased from Bombay Collection or

By Asma Shums at the KPU Surrey Bookstore. For more “The Family that eats together Prays toinformation, please contact Aisha at aigether stays together” sha.amijee@kpu.ca or 778 846 5451.

This saying has wisdom in it. Ofcourse , it is different to observe this tradition daily but, if we can we should try to keep it as often as we could and with as many famFREE ily member as we can when we spend time together we have to have a chance to communicate with our family, and it helps to prevent so many problems, build’s love friendship and feelings for each other.

Parenting is an interesting job: The members of family have different Social Justice Digital schedule, but whenever we are together Storytelling Program we should try to build a relationship as for Muslim Women and Girls in Vancouver we are actually related to each other by Interested in learning how to make short blood but it is important to build heart to films called Digital Stories? Combining the powerful and ancient technique of heart relationship, and the responsibility storytelling with digital technology told by Vancouver’s own Muslim Women? falls on the shoulders of parent and elders.

Join this course for an exciting way to script Parents has an interesting job to se that the your personal narratives of the Muslim Women’s Identity. Explore stories and issues family life runs smoothly we should take that mean the most to you; but learn how to share them in a way to make an impact care not to always bring unpleasant topin your community. Tell stories using the art of Digital Storytelling for Social Justice ics or make hurtful remarks or ethics on taught by Aisha Azba Amijee at the Visual Media Workshop at Kwantlen Polytechnic weakness of a person.

University this April 2017.

To be parent is a very important post: Your child does not know what it is to be PROGRAM DATES: APRIL 8, 15, 22, 29 30,40 or 50, but parents do know on the FOUR SATURDAYS, 9AM-2PM other hand what it is to be 15,18 or 22, So END OF PROGRAM FILM FEST: MAY 13 APPLICATION DEADLINE: MARCH 1 more responsibility falls on the shoulders of the parents. They know what it is to be young and vulnerable being scared and stupidly bold. Parent have upper hand of experience when this cold or advice children on and off, they are actually are try-

ment and happiness.

We can complain all we want, but if we don’t tackle what’s causing us having these unhealthy choices, we can’t address our deeper fears and won’t be able to make true commitment to having more balance in our lives. Without a clear understanding of our motives, we’ll keep trying to break our bad habits from the outside in and then dislike ourselves each time we fail. This leaves us feeling even more hopeless and creates a vicious cycle.

The bottom line: if you want to achieve lasting positive change and become the person you know you can, have healthy choices in your life. It may be time to wake up. It may be time to gradually change direction to implement some healthy choices in your lifestyle!

For any inquiries please email at shabnam@skcounselling.ca

FAMILY

VOICES MUSLIM WOMEN

All applicants must apply online at freededucationco.com For more information contact aisha.amijee@kpu.ca or 778 846 5451

ing to be protective they want to save their children from suffering, but they forget that the time has changed children have more options more facilities and different mindset. It is OK to let the children have their own experience in certain matters once the parents have given their opinion.

The grown up children should be given suggestion showed right or wrong but are not to be forced.

Nobody is a mind reader: Sometimes we expect certain words or behaviours from family member and friends, and when they do not behave up to our expectations we feel bad and rejected.

We get angry, sulk and feel hurt. Instead why can’t we express to tell what do we expect from our family member of what type of their behaviour or word is hurtful? Instead taunting or saying something which we might regret later on, it is better to say our feelings in calm peaceful and decent words. May be the other person do not have idea what we are going through.

As it is: When we love our family we accept them as it is, with their strong and weak points.

It is important to know how our family member think and feel and deal with each other respectfully. Everybody’s level of understanding tolerating and controlling the feeling is different; the parent has to win confidence comfort of their children first. They should create an atmosphere in the house where child does not hesitate to share their feelings or voice their opinion.

Healthy atmosphere: Healthy atmosphere is as important as healthy food, when parents have problem with each other it definitely reflects on children. Many times they do not know how to get help, how to deal with it. And they are affected deeply and it affects their present and future life.

JUST CHILL The human being are cursed by fishes In the “NET” they are trapped.

21

Rajab 3. 1438 March 31, 2017

POLITICS

Firebrand Hindu Cleric Yogi Adityanath Picked as Uttar Pradesh Minister NEW DELHI — India’s governing party on Saturday appointed a firebrand Hindu cleric to lead the country’s most populous state, a turning point for a government that has, until now, steered clear of openly embracing far-right Hindu causes.

The choice of Yogi Adityanath — who has been repeatedly accused of stirring antiMuslim sentiments — to lead Uttar Pradesh, came as a shock to many political observers here, who have become accustomed to the carefully moderated public positions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in line with his projected image as a pro-development leader and global statesman.

Mr. Adityanath has openly called for India to be enshrined as a “Hindu rashtra,” or Hindu nation, and supports the rebuilding of a temple to the Hindu god Ram, also known as Rama, on the site of a razed 16th-century mosque, a project that was halted after it incited bloody religious riots in the 1990s.

With the appointment, Mr. Modi “is unveiling a vision of benign majoritarianism,” said Shekhar Gupta, a longtime editor and political talk show host. “That means it’s a Hindu country, that’s the fact, and we’ll be nice to you if you behave yourself.”

For Mr. Modi, the appointment represents a “final rejection of Nehruvian socialism, which almost gave the minorities a slightly exalted status,” said Mr. Gupta, referring to Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister and independence leader.

Mr. Adityanath, who is often seen wearing the saffron robes of a Hindu priest, told followers he would focus on Mr. Modi’s eco-

nomic agenda.

“I am confident that the state will march on the path of development,” he said, in comments carried by The Press Trust of India.

India is 80 percent Hindu, 14 percent Muslim and 2.3 percent Christian, according to the 2011 census.

Mr. Adityanath’s appointment comes on the heels of Mr. Modi’s greatest political victory since 2014. A week ago, his Bharatiya Janata Party won a landslide victory in Uttar Pradesh, which has a population of more than 200 million and was seen as a gauge of Mr. Modi’s chances of winning a second five-year term in 2019.

The selection of a hard-line Hindu chief minister suggests that the party credits rightwing activists for swinging the vote, said Milan Vaishnav, a senior fellow in the South Asia program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

“The only conclusion one can draw is that he feels the base is mobilized and that they helped deliver this, and that there would be pushback if they did not get something in return,” Mr. Vaishnav said. He added that he was “baffled” by the choice, which shifts attention away from the pro-growth, development agenda that has been at the center of Mr. Modi’s political movement.

“I think it’s a regressive choice, and a lost opportunity for the prime minister,” he said.

“This is a huge mandate, a huge victory. But there is going to be a backlash if he doesn’t figure out the jobs question. That’s issue No. 1.”

Party loyalists praised the decision. Some

By: Mona Eltahawy When I heard that Egypt’s former president Hosni Mubarak had been released on Friday from the military hospital where he had been detained since his trial began a few months after the January 2011 revolution that ousted him, I looked up pictures from that trial. I wanted to remember the thrill, albeit shortlived, of seeing this incarnation of all the entitlement accrued over nearly 30 years of rule confined to the cage where defendants are kept in Egyptian courtrooms.

It is awful and humiliating to be in that cage.

That is its intention.

So this was a sight that expressed Egypt’s revolutionary audacity. Mr. Mubarak was the first of the leaders overthrown by the uprisings that swept across this region to be present at his trial.

The very first leader to be toppled, Zine elAbidine Ben Ali of Tunisia, fled on a plane to Saudi Arabia, which refused to extradite him for his civilian trial in 2011 and a military trial in 2012. That second trial ended with a conviction in absentia and a sentence of life in prison in connection with the killing of 23 demonstrators by the police during Tunisia’s revolution.

I will forever remember the day when Mr. Ben Ali ran away. That, too, was a moment of audacity: the realization that the people could overthrow a dictator in our region.

Some will tell you that Mr. Mubarak’s being in that cage was all a show scripted by a military government that would not ultimately permit the imprisonment of one of its own. (Mr. Mubarak was once the commander of the Air Force.) Some will tell you that it was unrealistic, even delusional, to have ever expected justice for those killed

by Mr. Mubarak’s security forces during the revolution.

Surely, though, the whole point of revolution is to be unrealistic — since the reality, up until 2011, was that death was the only way we got rid of our dictators, either by natural causes or by assassination. In that context, the belief that people deserve freedom and justice appears a delusion.

For years, Mr. Mubarak created myriad branches of the security forces and appointed the judges. That ensured Egypt’s judicial system was configured to deny genuine justice. So, how could a regime try one of its own and find him guilty? I know: delusional.

How does such a regime try those who are not its own? The day before Mr. Mubarak walked free, a Cairo court again postponed issuing a verdict in the case of an EgyptianAmerican, Aya Hijazi, her Egyptian husband and several others who worked with them to provide services for street children.

They have been imprisoned since May 2014 on absurd charges of human trafficking and sexual abuse. (The two-year limit for pretrial and provisional detention under Egyptian law has now been broken, apparently without consequence.)

Also in the days before Mr. Mubarak’s release, a petition was circulating on Egyptian social media calling for medical amnesty for a 22-year-old imprisoned student, Ahmed el-Khatib, who is suffering from an illness brought on by unsanitary prison conditions.

He is one of an estimated 60,000 political prisoners in Egypt’s jails, many of whom are sick but are denied medical treatment.

During his trial, Mr. Mubarak received the best medical care Egypt can offer in a military hospital. To understand how our military rulers try those who are not their own, contrast the trial of Mr. Mubarak with our second ousted president, Mohamed Morsi,

members made the case that Mr. Adityanath’s selection did not represent a departure from Mr. Modi’s 2014 pledge to focus on the economy and create jobs.

Others openly celebrated the advent of a more muscular Hindu agenda.

“Justice to all, appeasement to none,” said Sudhanshu Mittal, a Bharatiya Janata Party leader, in comments to NDTV, a cable news station. “Appeasement,” in this context, is typically understood to mean policies favoring the rights of Indian Muslims.

“As a devout Hindu sannyasi,” or someone who has renounced worldly things, “he will guarantee that the state doesn’t discriminate, and justice for all,” said Tarun Vijay, a former B.J.P. member of Parliament. He added that as chief minister, Mr. Adityanath “may make jihadi intolerant Muslims learn an alphabet of humanity and accepting differences as an Indian.”

Mr. Adityanath, 44, was born Ajay Mohan Bisht, and studied mathematics before joining the priesthood. He rose to prominence as part of the campaign to rebuild the Ram temple, and has repeatedly been charged with fanning religious tensions.

In 2007, he spent 15 days in jail on charges of inciting riots, The Hindustan Times re-

ported. He was booked again later in the year, when riots broke out after he made a speech. He is still facing trial in the two cases, the newspaper reported.

Mr. Adityanath was a forceful defender of the Hindu mob who lynched Muhammad Ikhlaq, a Muslim man suspected of slaughtering a cow, and argued that Mr. Ikhlaq’s family should be prosecuted for possessing the meat. When some Indians complained that they should not be required perform a “sun salutation” as part of International Yoga Day celebrations, saying it was a religious act, he recommended that those who were offended should “drown themselves in the sea.” He won his parliamentary seat in 1998, and was re-elected four times.

He has particularly strong support among Hindu priests and seers, who urged the B.J.P. to name him chief minister, saying it would clear the way for the construction of the Ram temple.

Source: www.nytimes.com

The Stinging Insult of Hosni Mubarak’s Release

anytime soon.

I am angry and sad at Mr. Mubarak’s release not just because of what could have been, but what now cannot be, as long as our criminal justice system comforts the powerful and afflicts the powerless. If Mr. Mubarak was not held accountable for the killing of some 900 people in the 11 days of the uprising, how will we hold accountable Mr. Sisi and other senior security personnel accountable for another massacre, soon after they overthrew Mr. Morsi, of more than 800 people, most of whom were Muslim Brotherhood supporters, in a single day in 2013?

Egyptians of every political persuasion deserve justice. That must never be considered unrealistic. Rather, it is myopic and naïve to think that supporting our dictators, as so many Western administrations do, will make real the mirage of stability they claim to support. It must never be considered delusional to expect our human rights to be respected.Five American administrations, Democratic and Republican, supported the Mubarak regime. As frustrated as I was with the Obama administration’s continuation of that support, through economic and military aid, and its foot-dragging at the start of our revolution, at least President Obama never invited Mr. Sisi to the White House.

Mr. Sisi was the first foreign leader to call Donald J. Trump after his election victory.

I am sure Mr. Sisi is now celebrating his invitation to visit the White House next Monday.

I am not. I am not so delusional that I’d imagine the Trump administration will use that meeting to press Egypt’s president on matters of justice, freedom or human rights.

who was elected after Mr. Mubarak was forced out.

Millions of Egyptians took to the streets to demand Mr. Morsi’s resignation on the first anniversary of his taking office. Many Egyptians saw Mr. Morsi as preoccupied with consolidating power for the Muslim Brotherhood movement from which he came, rather than acting as the transitional president they elected him to be. After three days of mass protests, the head of the military, now the president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, overthrew the Morsi government. I supported the overthrow of Mr. Mubarak.

I also supported the millions of Egyptians who took to the streets against Mr. Morsi and I was glad to see him go. But I opposed Mr. Sisi’s seizure of power because I oppose military rule.

Like Mr. Mubarak, Mr. Morsi was put in a defendant’s cage, but he did not spend his nights in a cushy military hospital. Mr. Morsi and his senior advisers were held incommunicado by the military for several months before prosecutors began filing multiple charges, several of which resulted in his This is an excerpt. The original article can conviction. Held in a high-security prison be viewed on: www.nytimes.com near Alexandria, he is unlikely to walk free

22

Rajab 3. 1438 March 31, 2017

PAKISTAN

Haqqani’s views vindicate state institutions’ stance, says ISPR The Army’s public relations wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), on Wednesday stated that the claims made by Hussain Haqqani, Pakis¬tan’s former ambassador to the US, regarding the issuance of diplomatic visas in a recent op-ed in an American news publication “vindicate [the] stance of Pakistan’s state institutions”. The army’s media wing further stated that: “The veracity of concerns about [Haqqani’s] role in the entire issue also stands confirmed.” In an article published in The Washington Post earlier this month, Haqqani had defended US President Donald Trump’s team’s contacts with Russia during and after the 2016 US presidential elections, saying he also had established similar relations with members of the Obama campaign during the 2008 elections. Haqqani wrote that the friends he made in the Obama campaign team were “able to ask, three years later, as National Security Council officials, for help in stationing US Special Operations and intelligence personnel on the ground in Pakistan”.

Explaining how he responded to those requests, the former ambassador wrote:

“I brought the request directly to Pakistan’s civilian leaders, who approved.

Although the United States kept us officially out of the loop about the operation, these locally stationed Americans proved invaluable when Obama decided to send in Navy SEAL Team 6 without notifying Pakistan.” Navy SEAL Team 6 had flown deep into Pakistan by helicopter and killed Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in his Abottabad compound on May 2, 2011.

DG ISPR Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor, who tweeted the ISPR’s concise statement on the matter, seemed to also be referring to the Memogate scandal, when Hussain Haqqani’s ‘loyalty to the country’ first became ‘suspect’. Memogate had made national headlines in 2011, when Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz claimed to have received a message from Haqqani to deliver a confidential memo to then US Admiral Mike Mullen. The ‘memo’ allegedly talked of a possible military takeover in the aftermath of the Abbottabad raid and sought ‘help’ from the US for the PPP government at the time in ‘reigning in the military and intelligence agen-

cies’, exposing a rift between the then civilian government of Pakistan and the country’s powerful generals. However, some analysts had questioned the logic of the claims made by Ijaz, suggesting that the affair was a conspiracy to embarrass the government or remove Haqqani. Haqqani eventually had to resign from his position following the scandal. A judicial commission tasked with probing Memogate had, however, stated in its report that the memo was “indeed real” and authored by the former ambassador. The commission said the purpose of writing the memo was to

convince American authorities that Pakistan’s civilian government was USfriendly and that it was only the civilian setup that could control the expansion of Pakistan’s nuclear programme.

The report also stated that through the memo, Haqqani wanted to convince the US over the formation of a new security team and that he wanted to head the team himself. The commission said Haqqani had ‘forgotten’ that he was Pakistan’s ambassador to the US and accused him of violating the country’s constitution.

Source: The Dawn

Woman wins 17-year battle against Punjab University

A woman of Pakistani origin, currently residing in Canada has won a 17-year legal battle against Punjab University (PU), the BBC reported on Tuesday. In its judgement, the Lahore High Court ordered the university to pay Rs800,000 in damages to Wajiha Arooj, 38, who had sued the university for damaging her reputation.

Arooj had sought action against the university almost two decades ago when an error brought her disrepute and impacted the course of her life. While studying for her master’s degree in English at the university, Arooj was wrongly marked absent for an exam and told that she had failed. Following the error, one university official’s suggestion

to Arooj’s father that he was unaware of his daughter “activities” triggered gossip and speculation within the university campus and inside her home.

“Even my mother looked at me in a strange way, with doubt in her eyes,” Arooj said, speaking to the BBC.Arooj recalled that while her classmates’ taunts made it difficult for her to face them, her family refused to let her attend evening classes at the university. “Gossiping in the classroom, they would mockingly say that one can go anywhere on the pretext of taking an exam. And they would make sure that I could hear them,” Arooj said. “At one point I was so distressed I even considered committing suicide,” she added. Following the incident, her family, fearing for her reputation, had married her off and Arooj moved to Canada with her husband. Her dreams of finishing her education and starting a career never came true. However, the trial continued in the Lahore High Court, with the university challenging the case several times.

The court’s ruling in Arooj’s favour was also challenged, but

upheld by an appeals court earlier this month. PU still holds the right to challenge the appeal court’s decision. A university spokesperson, Khurrum Shehzad, told the BBC that the

administration would first look into the court’s detailed verdict as it was an old case. “We will see if the student is in the right, [then] we will definitely comply with court orders. If we feel

the university was in the right, we will contest the order on the next available legal platform,” the spokesperson said.

Source: The Dawn

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Rajab 3. 1438 March 31, 2017

MIRAC S PL O E RS TPSE C I A L

West Indies must get familiar with Pakistan’s new faces, says Holder

Allrounder Jason Holder has put West Indies’ loss in the first T20 against Pakistan largely down to the unfamiliarity factor.

Shadab Khan, the 18-year-old debutant legspinner, did a lot of the damage as West Indies were kept to 111 for 8 in Barbados, a total Pakistan chased down with 17 balls and six wickets to spare. Going into the rest of the series, Holder said West Indies would need to come up with plans to counter the new faces they are up against, especially the spinners. “We need to just sit down and work out our plans against all their bowlers,” Holder said. “Obviously we are coming up against some guys who we have never played. In this situation, we need to find how best to play them given the conditions that we have. “We struggled

with their slow bowlers, and it’s a situation where we need to counteract their slow bowlers in the middle. Those were the guys who really put the strangle on us up front.”

Holder said while the pitch was slow, it was not to blame for West Indies’ score; that was down to the early run-out of Evin Lewis and the repeated loss of wickets at “crucial stages”. “I felt that the wicket we had today was slow, it was a little bit more difficult to hit on. It broke up a little earlier than I thought it would, but bearing that in mind, we just needed to find ways to knock some balls back down the pitch. It was a good enough pitch for us to get 150 at least.

Definitely think if we had 150 on the board it would’ve been a much better game. “It’s clear we didn’t bat well. We started off with

a run-out, which gave them momentum. It was a very good piece of fielding, but we never really recovered from there. It was a situation in the middle where we had to consolidate, build a partnership. “We tried to do that with Sunil [Narine] and [Kieron] Pollard, probably our last recognised partnership, and Carlos [Brathwaite] came in

and joined Pollard and played a good knock, but we were always struggling with wickets. We lost wickets at crucial stages and we could never lay a platform from where we could blast.” The second of four T20s will be played in Port of Spain on March 30.

Source: Cricinfo

Montreal baseball investors have met MLB conditions: source

A group of Montreal investors has met the conditions laid out by Major League Baseball to get a team back in the city, a source has told The Canadian Press. “I can tell you we are no longer looking for investors and that we believe we have all the ingredients to be able to welcome a team, be it an expansion one or one that already exists,” the person said on condition of anonymity. The source said the investors have a solid financial set-up, support from two levels of government, various potential locations for a stadium as well as at least five different de-

signs for the venue. “We are not going to say we favour one site or another,” the source said. “But it’s crucial for the (eventual) site to be well served by public transit.” As for what the stadium would look like, the person said there is a lot of flexibility. “We can choose the version we want,” the source added. “There are five. They are preliminary plans and we could easily rework them once the project has been launched.” The investors are just waiting for a call from MLB commissioner Rob Manfred to get the ball rolling.

“For me, the most important ele-

ment in all this is the team,” the person said.” All the other areas are sufficiently advanced.” Montreal businessmen Stephen Bronfman and Mitch Garber publicly revealed their commitment last year to the project, while Bronfman and Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre co-signed a 2015 letter that was sent to the 30 MLB teams as well as to Manfred. The letter spoke of Montreal’s interest in rejoining the major leagues for the first time since 2004, when the Expos left to become the Washington Nationals. Manfred said last year he would like two teams

added to MLB in order to make scheduling easier. But he also said that scenario had to wait until another collective bargaining agreement was signed with the players’ union and the issue of stadiums in Oakland and Tampa was settled. While the new bargaining agreement was inked last December, the situation with the Tampa the Rays, said last week he had to forgo his two preferred sites for a

new stadium because they were not available. The search for a new location won’t be complete until the end of the year. In Oakland, the NFL’s Raiders have announced they will eventually say goodbye to the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, where the Athletics also play. The A’s have committed to staying in Oakland providing they get a new stadium.

Source: CTV News

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