PI Magazine December2020

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By Liberty

Human Rights Organisation

The right to live in freedom and safe from personal harm

Tackling racism means we need to champion bold policy proposals, rather than narrow technical tweaks.

Last month the Joint Committee on Human Rights published its report on Black people, racism and human rights. The report’s findings include: More than three quarters of black people in the UK do not believe their human rights are equally protected compared to white people.

More than 60% of black people in the UK do not believe their health is as equally protected by the NHS compared to white people.

Black people have been disproportionately severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

85% of black people are not confident that they would be treated the same as a white person by the police.

25% of black voters in Great Britain are not registered to vote compared to a 17% average across the population.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has been unable to adequately provide leadership and gain trust in tackling racial inequality in the protection and

promotion of human rights.

Soon afterwards, police monitoring group Netpol published ‘Britain Is Not Innocent’, concluding that the policing of the Black Lives Matter protests this summer was symptomatic of institutional racism. This was followed by the Government’s appointment of David Goodhart – a supporter of the hostile environment – as a Commissioner of the aforementioned EHRC. I know that professionalised human rights organisations have a way to go when it comes to building solidarity with the anti-racist movement. I’ve been navigating this sector for the best part of a decade, alongside grassroots campaigning.

In some instances, legalistic and unimaginative interpretations of human rights mean that organisations prioritise minor tweaks at the edges of fundamentally unjust policies as the only palatable policy position. A narrow and uncritical understanding of success means groups sometimes limit themselves to changes that are achievable within media or electoral cycles, which are all too often at odds with the tempo

and long-term vision of grassroots work.

Legalistic and unimaginative interpretations of human rights can mean that organisations prioritise minor tweaks at the edges of fundamentally unjust policies In wider media and political discourse, as well as within NGOs, where race and racism do appear – and that isn’t a given – they’re all too often individualised and interpersonal, and untethered from structures of power like class, policing, criminal punishment, and the immigration system, all of which have a huge impact on black people’s rights. This is part of how we’ve ended up with a slew of photo ops, and comparatively few policy changes by major political parties thus far – although Sir Ed Davey is to be commended for tabling a Bill to end suspicionless stop and search, as is the Green Party for calling for reiterating calls for migrants’ rights.

In the wake of this summer’s protests, we at Liberty set out that we stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, and with everyone united in the struggle against racism and the fight for justice.

I think that there are three invitations that the movement – and this JCHR report – raise to established human rights institutions’ advocacy.

First, will we commit staff time and organisational resources to prioritising the concerns of the Black Lives Matter movement in our work?

Second, will we act in solidarity with the wider anti-racist movement, rather than purely in our own organisational interests?

Third, will we consider and champion bold policy proposals, rather than narrow technical tweaks?

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Christmas has been saved but Muslims and other faiths festivals were not Continued from front page

Imagine finding out on Christmas Eve that Christmas had been cancelled.

For many that would be unthinkable but, thanks to this year’s Covid-19 restrictions and lockdowns, festivals celebrated by different religions have been far from normal.

Back on Thursday, July 30, Health Secretary Matt Hancock made a late-night announcement that parts of northern England will be put into a lockdown.

It was introduced just three hours before the start of Eid-Al-Adha, “feast of sacrifice” at 9.16pm, where people were told they weren’t allowed to mix with other households or socialise at home or in gardens.

This created outrage in the Muslim community across social media as they believed it was reinforced to target Muslims from not celebrating Eid. Eid is celebrated twice and is one of the holiest days in the Islamic

calander. Both times this year, Muslims could not celebrate how they used to and many were on their own with no family or friends around them.

But on the flip side, Boris Johnson reiterated in a recent press conference that measures were to be put in place to “save Christmas” - hence the nationwide second lockdown that we’re in now, which ends on Wednesday (December 2).

Sure enough it was soon announced that restrictions would be eased at Christmas to allow people to mix with a slightly wider circle of family and friends.

But questions circulated - what if the government announced through Twitter on Christmas eve that households aren’t allowed to mix or meet up outside?

To many, that would never happen.

Like Christmas, Eid is celebrated

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with family, food and a warm feeling of home and togetherness.

But this was not the case for many who spent Eid alone.

The announcement Matt Hancock made was criticised heavily, and seemed as though he didn’t take into consideration the 2.6million Muslims in the country.

England is meant to be a secular country but with decisions like this, BAME groups especially feel marginalised.

Sikh community felt a similar way, especially as Diwali just passed and celebrations were not the same.

To some others, many have accepted that the governments will always favour the White, British population, despite shouting ‘diversity’ and ‘inclusion’.

A small minority of people who are not of the Muslim faith also feel sympathetic towards religious festivals being cancelled.

Liam Donati Rojas Suarez, 17, from Chorleywood, shares the same views as his close Muslim friends.

He said: “I share the outrage that we have decided one religion’s festive practice is held in higher regard to another.

“Many of my Muslim friends have spoken to me about how they no longer understand the ways in which society works anymore.

“They [the Government] just love to temporarily adapt and then revert to their old ways, and this whole Eid thing is just another way Muslims have been done over.”

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New guidance produced by IPSO for journalists covering Muslims and Islam

The Independent Press Standards Organisation has produced the guidance, which outlines key questions for journalists to consider and includes relevant case studies.

The publication also offers contextual information about Muslims and Islam in the UK. The guidance has been welcomed by Fiyaz Mughal, founder of two pressure groups – Faith Matters, which aims to get faith communities to work together against conflict, and Tell Mama, which supports victims of Islamophobia and

anti-Muslim hate.

He said: “I welcome this guidance document, which is an excellent balance after much deliberation and engagement by IPSO, its regulated publishers and diverse community activists and organisations where there is not always pluralism of thought or opinion.

“I strongly believe that any faith or ideology must be open to critique and that opinions by writers in publications should be protected.

“This means negative or derogatory opinions around faiths

must be protected for publication, however much those views are disagreed with.

“However, on issues of fact that do not have anything to do with Muslims and Islam and which are woven into stories and conjecture that maligns whole communities so that it promotes discriminatory views about them, this document makes clear that there are important guidelines that should be followed.”

IPSO has previously produced similar guidance related to a range of issues including reporting deaths and inquests, major incidents, sexual offences, suicide, transgender issues and use of social media.

IPSO chief executive Charlotte Dewar, pictured, said: “Guidance helps editors and journalists to comply with the Editors’ Code by pulling together in one place information about how the Code applies to a particular issue.

“We hope this latest piece of guidance, like other guidance we have issued in the past, will help editors and journalists to report on this important subject in a way that fulfils the high standards set by the Editors’ Code of Practice.” www.pi-media.co.uk

Largest number of Prevent referrals related to far-right extremism

Just 11% of referrals to the government’s controversial Prevent programme were ultimately deemed to be at risk of radicalisation, with the largest number of referrals relating to far-right extremism.

The annual figures emerged as James Brokenshire, the security minister, warned that far-right terror posed “a growing threat”, which had been accelerated by the amplification of conspiracy theories online during the pandemic.

Home Office data showed there were 6,287 referrals to Prevent in the year to 31 March, up 10% compared with the record low in the previous year. Ultimately, 697 were deemed

at risk of radicalisation and taken on by the government’s Channel programme for specialist support.

Of the cases ultimately referred to Channel, 302 (43%) were referred for rightwing radicalisation and 210 (30%) were referred for Islamist radicalisation.

The figures demonstrate what Brokenshire later described as a “more diverse, much more complicated” threat picture. “Not only the threats from Daesh [Isis] or al-Qaida-inspired groups and individuals but the growing threat from rightwing terrorism, as well as risks from the far left and singleissue extremists,” he said.

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Social media provided a means for far-right and other extremists “to challenge mainstream messaging and promulgate twisted perversions of the truth” – trends that the minister said had been “accelerated” by the Covid-19 crisis.

Individuals referred to the Prevent programme, which has a £40m annual budget, have their details stored without their knowledge on a database. Critics, including Muslim groups, have claimed Prevent has little to do with safeguarding and is more concerned with gathering intelligence than supporting communities. www.pi-media.co.uk

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UK secretly deployed British troops to defend Saudi Arabian oil fields

The British government has deployed troops to defend oil fields in Saudi Arabia without telling parliament or the public.

Opposition parties accused the government of lacking a “moral compass” and dodging scrutiny, while campaigners said the episode was “symptomatic of the toxic relationship” between the UK government and the oilrich autocracy, The Independent reported.

The Ministry of Defense says the oil fields are “critical economic infrastructure” and that gunners from

the 16th Regiment Royal Artillery were needed to help defend against drone strikes.

Incredibly, the military operation, which was launched February in this year, overlapped with a ban on exporting military hardware to the Western Asian dictatorship.

Until July ministers were blocked by the Court of Appeal from signingoff military exports because of concerns that Saudi forces were committing war crimes in their conflict with rebels based in neighboring Yemen.

Legal action is ongoing in British

A newly-published report has highlighed what it says are serious mental health issues among young Muslims in Britain.

The study, commissioned

by British Muslims For Secular Democracy, has been compiled by six authors, including one from Bradford - all female muslims who explored the feelings, thoughts, aspirations and desires of second and third generation British Muslims.

It concludes there’s a crisis in the community with some young Muslims unable and unwilling to access support for mental health.

Among the reports findings: * Serious mental health and well-

being issues among young Muslims in the UK. Particular research needed to support these Britons who have different cultural needs and family pressures * Lack of distrust between young Muslims and service providers * Islamophobia and extremism has caused climate of fear and suspicion, and lack of understanding from providers * Covid lockdown has had huge effect on young Muslims who are leading double lives and are feeling ‘suffocated’ at home *Experts need to stop being fixated on security and develop

courts to reinstate the ban, which ministers discarded in the summer after judging that the 500 alleged war amounted only to “possible” breaches international humanitarian law and “isolated incidents”.

A Ministry of Defense spokesperson told The Independent: “Following the attacks on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s oil production facilities on 14 September 2019, we have worked with the Saudi Ministry of Defense and wider international partners to consider how to strengthen the defense of its critical economic infrastructure from aerial threats.”

The spokesperson confirmed that the deployment had included an advanced military radar system to help detect drone strikes, but would not be drawn on “exact timescales or the numbers of personnel involved due to operational security”.

No response was provided to questions about why no announcement had been made in parliament or elsewhere about the deployment of British troops.

Defense minister James Heappey confirmed in separate written correspondence that “UK defense personnel have accompanied the deployment of Giraffe radars to Riyadh [the Saudi Arabian capital]”.

Report highlights ‘serious mental health issues’ among young British muslims

holistic approaches to mental well-being Report co-author Anila Baig, from Bradford, found that many young British Muslims are leading ‘double lives’ and feel‘suffocated’ by their strict home life compared to their white and non-Muslim friends.

This has been particularly terrible during the Covid lockdown where young people have been confined to their homes and are falling apart under the pressure of trying to hide the lives they live outside the home covering up their sexuality, way of life and relationships that would not be approved by their families. www.pi-media.co.uk

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NYPD no longer can force Muslim women to remove hijabs in mug shots

The New York Police Department will no longer require people who are arrested to remove religious headwear during mug shots as part of a settlement in a federal lawsuit.

A group of Muslim women sued New York City after they said they were forced to remove their hijabs after arrests and be photographed with their head and hair uncovered.

In an initial complaint filed in federal court in New York, one of the woman said that removing her hijab, a garment worn by many Muslim women around the world, and being photographed with it at her shoulders made her feel “humiliated, distraught and panicked from this coerced violation of her religious practice.”

The settlement reached this month will now allow those detained

by NYPD to retain their religious headwear while in custody and require trainings for NYPD officers about the new policy. The new policy will also cover religious headwear from other traditions, including yarmulkes, wigs, habits, turbans and kufis, among others.

A person can have their driver’s license or other ID photo taken with a religious head covering on, so “there’s no reason why the NYPD

should require them to remove these same head coverings” when they’ve been accused of a crime, said Albert Fox Cahn, an attorney for some of the plaintiffs.

Patricia Miller, the head of the city’s Special Federal Litigation Division, said the change in policy was “a good reform for the NYPD.” “It carefully balances the department’s respect for firmly held religious beliefs with the legitimate law enforcement need to take arrest photos, and should set an example for other police departments in the country,” she added in a statement.

Four Muslim women and an advocacy group sued in separate lawsuits and were part of the settlement. The women said their constitutional rights were violated when they were forced to remove their head coverings for mug shots or NYPD searches.

An initial complaint filed in March 2018 alleged Jamilla Clark, who was arrested over a protective ordered filed by an ex-husband, faced threats of prosecution from NYPD if she did not remove her hijab for the mug shot.

“Like many Muslim women whose religious beliefs dictate that they

wear a hijab, Ms. Clark felt exposed and violated without hers — as if she were naked in a public space,” the complaint said. “A NYPD officer took a photograph of Ms. Clark as she wept and begged to put her hijab back on.” The complaint also says that another officer “openly mocked the Muslim faith.”

Arwa Aziz, the complaint said, faced a similar experience months later when officers allegedly would not allow her to push her hijab back slightly for a mug shot, instead forcing her to pull it down to her shoulders. Aziz also was arrested over a protective order, and the complaint said a dozen NYPD officers and more than 30 male inmates could see her as the mug shot was taken.

“Frantic, weeping and bareheaded in a hallway full of men who do not belong to her immediate family, Ms. Aziz felt broken,” the complaint said.

Wearing a hijab is “core to both women’s identities. It is an essential part of who they are,” the lawsuit said, and the practice is held by some Muslim women around the world as an essential part of their religious identity and faith.

Under the terms of the settlement, there are certain situations during which NYPD officers would be allowed to require a person to remove their religious head covering.

Head coverings may also be removed during mandatory NYPD searches for weapons and other contraband, the settlement said.

However, “on those limited circumstances where temporary removal of the religious head covering is necessary, members will take all possible steps, when consistent with personal safety, to respect a prisoner’s privacy, rights and religious beliefs,” the settlement said. www.pi-media.co.uk

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Germans charged with far-right plot to attack Muslims and overthrow govt

Prosecutors charged 11 German men from a far-right terror group with planning deadly attacks on Muslims and plotting to overthrow the German government.

According to AP, federal prosecutors alleged that eight of the men formed the “Group S” organization during a meeting in

September 2019.

Three others are accused of joining the group later. A 12th person was also charged with supporting the group.

Prosecutors also reportedly charged seven of the suspects with weapons violations in Stuttgart state court.

AP reported that the suspects, who were listed without last names due to German privacy laws, wanted to “shake the state and the social order” in Germany and eventually create “conditions similar to civil war” by attacking mosques and killing or injuring as many Muslims as possible.

The group also allegedly hoped to lead a government coup, as well as use force against political opponents.

Authorities said the group held multiple private meetings, coordinated over messaging apps and by telephone, and that one of its members trained others to shoot a pistol.

Prosecutors said the group had a goal of raising $59,000, and all but one group member agreed to contribute four-figure amounts, although it was not immediately clear if the funds were raised.

All of the suspects were detained during Feb. 14 raids, and all but one are still in custody.

Egypt’s Al-Azhar hails Belgium’s expulsion of Danish far-right groups Egypt’s Al-Azhar Islamic Center welcomed the move by the Belgian government to arrest and expel Danish far-right activists suspected of planning to provoke Muslims by burning a copy of the Quran.

In a statement, Al-Azhar’s Islamophobia Watch Office said it appreciates the stance of Brussels and Belgium’s secretary of state for asylum and migration in nipping the Fitna in the bud by expelling the extremists, RT Arabic reported.

It added that the planned move by the extremists was aimed at spreading hate and foment violence.

The statement also said that the

Belgian government’s preventing the desecration of the Quran was respect for the feelings of Muslims and their religious sanctities which would lead to improving the culture of peaceful coexistence in the country.

Five Danish far-right activists suspected of planning to provoke Muslims in Belgium by burning a Quran were arrested and ordered out of the country, officials said.

According to their group’s Facebook page, those arrested are members of “Stram Kurs” or “Hard Line” — a group led by Danish antiIslam and anti-immigration militant

Rasmus Paludan.

According to the site, Paludan himself was arrested in neighboring France and has also been expelled.

Stram Kurs is known in Scandinavia for acts of provocation and Belgian authorities believe the group planned a Quran burning in Molenbeek, a Brussels district with a large Moroccan population.

The alleged plan forms part of the case sent by the police to the public prosecutor’s office in Brussels, a source close to the investigation said. www.pi-media.co.uk

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Court revokes Muslim headscarf ban in schools in Swedish town

A court has reversed a ruling which bans the wearing of the Islamic headscarf by Muslim students in schools in a southern Swedish town, a report said.

The Malmo Administrative Court of Appeals reversed a previous decision on the headscarf for violating the constitution and freedom of religion.

The ban was imposed by the town of Skurup, which is located in

the southern county of Skane.

A statement by the ombudsperson said that the appeal had been made for violating the Swedish constitution, Anadolu Agency reported.

The Skurup town council had banned the headscarf for students under the age of 13 last year. However, one of the school principals in the area had said that he does not recognize the decision

and would not implement it in his school.

European countries have come under fire for their obsession with banning the Islamic headscarf and face veil.

In Sweden, proposals on the issue have been endorsed by MPs from the Centre Party, the Liberals, the Moderates and the Swedish Democrats since 2009.

“Muslims have no business here.

They want to destroy and take over the country. I hate all Muslims to the extent that I get sick when I see them,” Monika Wollmer from the Sweden Democrats said in 2018.

The annual European Islamophobia Report shows that political and public discourses of Nordic countries continually feature debates on the role of the face veil and the headscarf in public spaces.

In Norway, the face veil was banned from schools and nurseries, targeting both the staff and students in the former.

However, both in Finland as well as in Sweden, legislative proposals for face veil bans have failed so far.

Hamas, Fatah resume talks in Cairo Leaders of the Islamic resistance movement Hamas and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah have resumed reconciliation talks in Cairo aimed at ending the internal division between the two sides and achieving unity.

Abdulatif al-Qanoua, the Hamas spokesman in Gaza, told reporters that the two movements’ delegations had convened afternoon in Cairo to continue their reconciliation dialogue that has been going on for more than a month, reported Xinhua news agency.

“We will work to overcome obstacles and solve some of the existing problems, and we are all concerned with the success of our path of reconciliation,” al-Qanoua said.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye told the cabinet in an online meeting that a Fatah delegation would head to Cairo to discuss with about elections with Hamas.

“I hope for speeding up an agreement on setting a date for holding consecutive and inclusive

elections for the Legislative Council and the Presidency to strengthen democratic life and end of internal division,” Ishtaye said.

After Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, an internal political and geographical division over administrative, financial and security issues has remained between the two sides despite a series of Arab and international mediations.

Fatah and Hamas recently announced their agreement to put differences aside.

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Over 13,000 civilians killed in US attacks in Iraq, Syria since 2014 www.pi-media.co.uk

A watchdog group has obtained US military data on almost all instances of civilian harm and casualties in Iraq and Syria, according to which up to 13,000 civilians were killed by US forces over the past six years.

For the first time since the US-led coalition launched its so-called war on Daesh in Iraq and Syria in 2014, the military exclusively released the geographic coordinates for nearly all confirmed instances of civilian harm and deaths in the two countries.

According to the data, obtained by the watchdog group, Airwars, the total number of civilians killed by USled coalition forces during the war is somewhere in the range of 8,310 to 13,187.

Former spokesman for the USled coalition Myles Caggins told the ­Britain-based organization group

that the primary reason behind the decision to release this data now was transparency.

“We take every allegation of civilian casualties with the utmost sincerity, concern, and diligence,” he said. “We see the addition of the geolocations as a testament to transparency.”

The data indicates when and where a particular event took place, and simplifies the process of determining which individuals were affected by a specific attack, according to Airwars.

Of the 344 “credible” incidents of civilian harm on record, 341 have been confirmed through this data, it said.

The remaining three were excluded by the military for various reasons such as continuing

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investigations and the inclusion of sensitive information.

The watchdog group said many of these incidents have been confirmed through firsthand accounts such as photos and videos posted to the internet by witnesses.

This new evidence could now provide an opportunity for affected civilians in Iraq and Syria, to pursue their compensation claims from the United States and its allies, who joined a campaign of airstrikes purportedly against Daesh in August 2014.

An inability to prove the exact attack or location of an offensive that caused civilian casualties, have so far posed a major obstacle to those seeking to pursue claims.

Citing a report from the Pentagon, Airwars said only six “ex gratia” payments were made to Iraqis in 2019.

The US and its allies of 68 nations, has repeatedly been accused of targeting and killing civilians.

The coalition released a report last year, admitting that it has killed over 1300 civilians in 34,514 strikes between August 2014 and the end of May 2019 in Iraq and Syria.

“During this period, it “assesses at least 1,319 civilians have been unintentionally killed by coalition strikes,’ the report said.

The US-led coalition has, however, been largely incapable of fulfilling its declared aim of eliminating Daesh.

US ‘Muslim Ban’ to end ‘on day one’ of Biden presidency On the first day of his presidency, president-elect Joe Biden intends to rescind Donald Trump’s travel bans on travelers from 13 countries, most either majority-Muslim or African nations.

Shortly after taking office in 2017, Trump issued an executive order that banned travelers from seven majorityMuslim nations from entering the United States.

The bans could be easily undone as they were issued by executive

order and presidential proclamation, according to policy experts, but lawsuits from conservatives could delay the process.

Biden promised to push politicians for laws to fight the surging number of hate crimes in the US. “As president, I’ll work with you to rip the poison of hate from our society to honor your contributions and seek your ideas. My administration will look like America with Muslim Americans

serving at every level,” he said.

“On day one, I’ll end Trump’s unconstitutional Muslim ban.”

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the US’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, congratulated Biden on his victory o and said it would hold him to his election promises.

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Austria carries out ‘politically-motivated’ violations against Muslims: Rights Group

A human rights group accused Austrian security authorities of committing “politically-motivated” human rights violations against Muslims.

“The Geneva Council for Rights and Liberties (GCRL) is deeply concerned about the human rights violations committed by the Austrian security authorities, during the broad raids carried out in four provinces, which included the arrests of at least 30 Arabs and Muslims,” the statement disclosed.

It added: “Austrian police, on 9 November, launched raids on more than 70 houses across four provinces in Austria, with orders given for 30 Muslims to be arrested.”

The statement continued: “Among those affected by the campaign are several former officials from the Austrian Council for the Islamic Religion, in addition to an employee at the institute in charge of training religious teachers in public schools, and also includes academics, doctors, and officials of associations.”

The GCRL stated: “These raids have shown a clear disregard for basic human rights principles and rules of law in Austria, as well as

intimidation and exaggeration in order to mislead public opinion by a so-called successful security operation against ‘political terrorism’.”

Meanwhile, the GCRL indicated: “The Styria region prosecutors’ office said in a statement that ‘the operation has no connection to the terror attack in Vienna of 2 November,’ but was the result of ‘intensive and comprehensive investigations carried out for more than a year.’”

According to Austrian Interior Minister Karl Nihamer: “The security operation launched by the police aims to ‘cut off the roots of political Islam,’ indicates that the matter is related to a campaign linked to a political position or religious orientation, and not related to specific legal violations.”

The GCRL also reiterated: “The security operations based on religious belief, faith or political orientation constitute a grave violation of the right to freedom of belief and freedom of opinion and expression, which was guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as local laws that

guarantee freedom of belief and expression.”

“The raid campaign was politically-motivated and was marred by a number of human rights violations during arrest including storming homes at night, breaking down the doors of many homes, causing terror to residents with total disregard for children and women, seizing money and documents without warrants,” the council stressed.

The Geneva Council further revealed that: “The detainees and the inhabitants of the houses including children were asked offensive irrelevant questions violating the privacy, such as prayer or social customs, as well as the position on the Palestinian issue.”

In addition, the statement noted that the GCRL: “Firmly condemns terrorist attacks, expresses its full solidarity with the victims, and stresses the importance of prosecuting perpetrators of these attacks in accordance with the law,” but at the same time, it “denounces any attempt to use this incident to commit discriminatory violations on the grounds of religion or belief.”

The GCRL expressed: “Its concern over politically-motivated actions of the dissolution of associations and closing mosques without legal justifications considering them a form of collective punishment.”

Concluding the statement, the council called on the Austrian government: “To review procedures and decisions that contravene human rights and the law, to investigate violations committed by the security authorities, and to stop any crackdown of a political nature or on freedom of expression or belief.” www.pi-media.co.uk

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Netherlands says to tackle foreign donations, influence on Mosques

The Dutch government said it has come up with a plan of action to tackle problematic behavior caused by unwanted foreign influence on social and religious organizations in the Netherlands.

The intentions and goals of people donating money to Dutch organizations will be more intensely investigated, and more effort will be put into making target groups in the Netherlands more resilient to this influence, the government said.

This plan was made based on the findings of an investigative committee tasked to look into undesirable influences from unfree

countries. The committee concluded that such influence can have major consequences for the Islamic communities in the Netherlands and for Dutch society as a whole, for example by turning people against government organizations or other citizens.

“The cabinet shares this concern.

According to the cabinet, foreign influence is undesirable if it leads to problematic behavior, radicalization, or in extreme cases, violent extremism,” the government said.

To get more information on which organizations are funded from abroad, the government will share

information via diplomatic channels about funding applications from the Netherlands. More investigation will be done to gain insight into the objectives to those funding Dutch organizations, to see what influence they try to exert on communities in the Netherlands.

The Social Organizations Transparency Act, which will soon be submitted to parliament, will give mayors and the Public Prosecution Service the authority to inspect all donations from outside the EU or EEA. Organizations and directors who refuse to cooperate with such inspections could face a board ban.

The government is also looking into freezing certain money flows, for example freezing the financial resources of organizations that incite hatred and discrimination.

On a more local front, the government will make target groups more resilient against foreign influence, for example by strengthening mosque boards, improving the quality of informal training, and starting a Dutch imam training program. “When organizations are better anchored in the Netherlands, they can function independently and without foreign influence,” the government said.

Lebanese movement slams Netanyahu’s trip to Saudi Arabia

The Islamic Amal movement of Lebanon condemned a recent secret visit to Saudi Arabia by the Israeli prime minister.

In a statement released, the movement described the development as “dangerous”, adding that Benjamin Netanyahu’s trip and his meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was a treason to Arab and Muslim nations, al-Kalima Online website reported.

It added that Muslim nations should be vigilant in the face of acts of betrayal by certain regimes.

The statement also underlined the need for unity against such plots and moves aimed at normalizing ties

with the Zionist regime.

The Palestinian Hamas resistance movement also denounced Netanyahu’s secret flight to Saudi Arabia, where he reportedly met with bin Salman and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, calling the move an “insult” to the Palestinian cause.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri described the Israeli premier’s meeting, which was reportedly held in Neom on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast, as “dangerous” and urged Saudi authorities to “clarify what happened because this represents an insult to the nation and the squandering of Palestinian rights.”

A member of Netanyahu’s cabinet and Likud party confirmed reports that Netanyahu flew to Saudi Arabia for a clandestine meeting with the kingdom’s de facto ruler and the US secretary of state.

Israel’s Kan public radio and Army Radio said Mossad chief Yossi Cohen also attended the meeting The meeting marked the first known encounter between senior Israeli and Saudi officials, amid attempts by Pompeo to coax the Riyadh regime to follow its neighbors, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, in establishing formal diplomatic relations with Israel. www.pi-media.co.uk

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I December 2020

WORLD NEWS

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Nine Australian soldiers kill themselves after ‘War Crimes’ report In Case You Missed It

Nine Australian soldiers have killed themselves over three weeks after a bombshell report exposed alleged war crimes by some SAS troops in Afghanistan.

Classified documents allege that some Australian troops killed unarmed men and children in Afghanistan, prompting a government-backed probe.

The Advertiser reports that an unprecedented nine soldiers - one women and eight men - have recently killed themselves.

The paper says they were aged from their early 20s to their 50s, and all died over a three-week-period, as Australia was rocked by allegations about Afghanistan.

Shocking footage, for example, showed an Australian SAS soldier shooting an unarmed Afghan man dead as he cowered in a field.

A damning new inquiry report by the Inspector-General of the Australian Defense Force reveals soldiers allegedly killed 39 prisoners and civilians.

The ‘shameful record’ of alleged killings took place outside the “heat of battle”, the redacted 465-page report claimed.

It was published after a four-year investigation into allegations and rumors surrounding the behavior of some soldiers in Special Air Service and Commando Regiments in Afghanistan from 2005 till 2016.

However, there has been no suggestion that any of the nine dead soldiers were linked to the report’s alleged war crimes.

It’s also not been established that they killed themselves as a result of the investigation and subsequent report. Plus, the recent deaths aren’t related.

But, the impact of extensively published allegations has been slammed by an ex-infantry soldier and veterans’ mental health advocate.

Among the soldiers who have taken their own lives is Afghanistan war veteran Private Shane Holt, of Brisbane.

He is reported to have died on November 16.

Fellow Queenslander Air Force veteran Robert John Phillips, 33, died on November 1, reports Daily Mail Australia.

On October 30, PTE Braiden Russell - who served two years in the Army - took his own life.

Another suicide occurred last week, the Mail adds.

A concerned ex-Australian Defence Force member told the Courier Mail in Brisbane: “The number of suicides in such a small time frame is unprecedented – it’s unfathomable.

General Angus Campbell, head of the Australian Defense Force, alleged that the number of Afghans killed unlawfully by rogue special forces may be higher than 39.

“Some patrols took the law into their own hands, rules were broken, stories concocted, lies told and prisoners killed,” Campbell alleged.

A new investigative agency headed by a retired judge or senior criminal lawyer will build criminal cases based on the damning new report.

These will be against some soldiers who were in the Special Air Service Regiment and Commando Regiment in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2016, Australian officials confirmed.

About 39,000 Australians served in Afghanistan and 41 were killed.

Afghanistan’s Independent Human Rights Commission said it provided information on at least ten cases of alleged war crimes to Australian investigators. www.pi-media.co.uk

Zionists demolish stairway leading to Al-Aqsa Mosque Gate The Israeli municipality of occupied Jerusalem al-Quds demolished a stairway leading to one of the gates of al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the city, local sources said Witnesses told WAFA that an Israeli bulldozer demolished the stairway leading to the Lions’ Gate under the pretext that it was used

to transfer equipment to al-Yusifiya Islamic cemetery, which is close to the aforementioned gate.

In the meantime, surveyors of the Israeli municipality began to survey the cemetery’s land and fixed signs there. The reason for demolishing the stairway or what happened in the area remains unknown.

Israeli authorities had announced earlier that they would place concrete pillars for a cable car project, which they intend to establish near Jerusalem’s Old City all the way to the Mount of Olives.

The project overlooks the Al-Aqsa Mosque. www.pi-media.co.uk

18I

SPORT

www.pi-media.co.uk I December 2020

New report highlights lack of British Asian representation in professional football

A new report released last month has found that half of UK football fans believe more must be done to increase the amount of players from a British Asian background playing professionally.

The report, commissioned by the Football Supporters’ Association (FSA) and Beyond Entertainment (BE), highlights how despite British Asians making up 7% of the whole population, just 0.25% of professional footballers are from a British Asian background.

Anwar Uddin is Campaign Manager for Fans For Diversity - a joint initiative delivered by Kick It Out and the FSA. He made history as the first British Asian to captain a side in the top four divisions when he took on the armband at Dagenham & Redbridge in 2007.

Now assistant manager at Aldershot, he shared his experiences in the game, saying: “When I was a younger player, I felt uncomfortable at times in social settings which

was a key part of team bonding as I always drank soft drinks.”

“I thought it would make the situation worse and so at times I just wouldn’t go and make excuses. This can sometimes have players labelled as a loner or not good socially.

If a coach has to make a decision on a player, apart from a trial what other information do they have to make a decision on that player? If you’re Asian that’s a factor, because you’re different.

A coach may wonder, will they have to fast, will they be antisocial, or lean on many old-fashioned stereotypes. All these things may play into a decision.

I hope people are open-minded and look at it positively or fairly moving forward as there is so much talent within the Asian community.”

Kick It Out’s Executive Chair, Sanjay Bhandari, adds to this: “There are twice as many people of Asian heritage as people of Black heritage in the UK yet there are 100

times more Black pro players than Asian pro players. That’s a massive statistical anomaly. It is clear that football has a long-standing problem getting British Asian players into the game and it is getting worse. Football needs to address this.

My experience as a South Asian is that we do not have different career aspirations, but we have different outcomes. There’s lots of battles we are still fighting, including discrimination of South Asian people, as well as sexism, homophobia, transphobia, islamophobia and anti-Semitism. Football bodies need to remain focused on spreading opportunities evenly and removing systemic bias. The FA are making efforts to create a more inclusive game, particularly with the recent launch of their Diversity in Football Leadership Code, which we hope will have a positive impact. We’ve made progress, but we know there is still more to be done to challenge attitudes across football.”

86% of fans surveyed for the report agreed that more role models within the professional game would increase the number of British Asian professional footballers, and it is hoped that schemes such as the FA’s new Diversity in Football Leadership Code will help here.

Kick It Out continues to work closely with the FA and all stakeholders in the game to increase diversity and tackle discrimination.

Through our Take A Stand campaign we are encouraging clubs, fans, and authorities to take an action or make a public pledge in the fight against discrimination.

‘Let’s disarm Islamophobia with kindness’: Ozil German footballer of Turkish descent Mesut Ozil called on the Muslim world to “disarm Islamophobia with kindness.”

In a Twitter post, Ozil quoted a verse from the Quran: “Good and evil cannot be equal. Respond to evil with what is best, then the one you are in a feud with will be like a close friend.”

“Unfortunately Islamophobia &

Antiislamismus is growing in Europe and in other parts of the world with media playing a big role in that,” he said.

“My personal answer to that: We should respond to Islamophobia & Antiislamismus in a way that will not reinforce it, but rather disarm and silence it with kindness,” the 31-year-old midfielder said.

Ozil joined English Premier

League side Arsenal in 2013 and has scored 44 goals with 77 assists in 254 games for the Gunners.

He has also played for Germany’s Schalke and Werder Bremen as well as Spanish giants Real Madrid.

Ozil was also part of Germany’s 2014 World Cup-winning squad. www.pi-media.co.uk

SPORT I19

I December 2020

27 years on, Azerbaijan football team visits freed city

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In Case You Missed It

on Sept. 27 resulting in civilian casualties.

After over six weeks, a Russiabrokered truce was reached.

The truce is seen as a victory for Azerbaijan, and a defeat for Armenia.

During this period, Baku liberated several cities and nearly 300 settlements and villages from the Armenian occupation. www.pi-media.co.uk

Azerbaijani football club Qarabag visited Aghdam, a city liberated by the country’s army recently from the occuaption of Armenian forces.

Qarabag chairman Tahir Gozel, senior team manager Kurban Kurbanov and the players offered prayers at a mosque in the city.

The team also visited an old stadium, which was razed to the ground.

The players played football in the ground and lifted their championship trophy in a symbolic victory.

Qarabag won the 2020 Azerbaijani Premier League title in June.

The team also paid their respects to Allahverdi Bagirov, a national hero of Azerbaijan and one of the founders of the football club, who is buried in a graveyard in the town.

Bagirov was killed by an anti-tank mine during his return to Aghdam in 1992.

The Aghdam district was occupied in 1993. Some 70,000 people were since displaced and resettled in the nearby Azerbaijani provinces of Tartar and Barda.

On Nov. 20, Azerbaijani forces liberated Aghdam.

Fresh border clashes erupted between Azerbaijan and Armenia

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Dajjal on a Donkey

22

I FEATURED

By Moulana Khalid Dhorat

Everybody becomes intrigued when topics such as Imam al-Mahdi, Dajjal and the rising of the sun from the West, are discussed. They anxiously await such a time, and random facts are thrown around in order to show just how knowledgeable they are on the topic. It’s a good thing to be knowledgeable on the topic, but what we fail to realize is that the time of Imam al-Mahdi and the Dajjal is not a time to be having delicious picnics and shopping sprees in Sandton - it’s a time of extreme hardship, and super wars. Christians call these wars Armageddon, or the Apocalypse, the mother of all wars, the last of which will take place in the region of the Golan Heights, presently under Zionist control. It’s like discussing a devastating volcano that will soon erupt in such a way that everyone will be burnt to ashes by it, and you are actually looking forward to be burnt! Of course, those who are wise will act timorously and be saved, and this is exactly the purpose of this article.

When Dajjal eventually makes his appearance, the Mujahideen

(warriors) of Islam will be fiercely battling the combined forces of the Western world (some traditions mention 80 battalions), including those Muslim states in the East allied to them. It will be a fight to the last, because the nature of the world would change forever after that. The West, led by the Jews, will appoint Dajjal as their leader to usher in their “New One-World Order” which they have been planning from a few hundred years already through merciless killing and persecution; the Muslims, on their part, will have humble but brave and pious Caliphs, one of which will be Imam al-Mahdi Muhammad ibn Abdullah al-Hasani, to ensure that the Caliphate (the Muslim super-state without national boundaries) is victorious and breaks all national boundaries all over the world. The re-establishment of this Caliphate has been the wish of every Muslim since its abolishment in 1924, but in the Ramadaan of 2014, it was thankfully once again restored in Syria and Iraq.

Whilst the Almighty only knows if the new Caliphate is authentic or not,

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I December 2020

or whether it’s destined to meet the Dajjal or not, what we do learn from the Prophetic Traditions is that their soldiers will not be large in number compared to their enemies. They will win some battles and lose some, until victory will finally fall to them. The enemy will be like a giant deranged elephant attacking a very calculating mouse, and the mouse would slowly, but surely defeat the elephant. Not a person in this world will be free from the heat of this war, even if you are sitting in Iceland, similar to how the price of fuel affects everyone.

As many people feel that the end of Time is near, we need to examine the situation from which the Dajjal will emerge, which may be in just a few short years or still many decades to come.

Physical Description Dajjal, the Messiah of Deception, will be brutally ugly. He will be the most physically un-attractive and loathsome person the world would ever see, yet most of his followers will regard him as the most intelligent, handsome, and successful person. His complexion will be deep ruddy – like someone passed a hot iron over him, and his hair thick, dull and wavy. He will have a bald patch at the back of his head. He will also be hunchbacked and pigeon-toed.

This means that besides walking tento-two on the clock, his hunchbackwalk will give him the appearance of a veritable witch. Further, his teeth will be jagged, and his left eye will have no sight in it. In fact, it will be rolling like a raisin in its socket and a piece of flesh will partially cover it. His right eye will be greenish and have some sight in it, but it will also be partially squint.

If the above description is not sufficient to scare the dogs away, between his eyes will be clearly written “Kaafir” in Arabic, meaning “disbeliever.” Every literate and illiterate Muslim will be able to read it so as to be clear about his identity, but those in denial will most probably say: “Photoshopped” or “Don’t look on the face, what’s in the heart is what matters!” He will use “Donkey Airlines” as his preferred mode of

www.pi-media.co.uk

I December 2020

transport. In the book written by Abdur Rahman al-Safuri, entitled Nuzhatul Majalis, it is written that this donkey, which will be white in colour, will have a distance of 40 handspans between its two ears. It will travel at exceptionally fast speeds covering long distances in a matter of hours, at an altitude that would be above the clouds. It will also be able to transport mountains of food upon its back which will be delivered to the starving people of the world if they believe him to be God. It will also serve as a mode of transport for people within its belly, and travel underwater too.

The donkey has been a mode of transport for people till today, and the Prophetic description may well be literal, but it can also be figurative - pointing towards the modern airplane. Some scholars opine that the mysterious UFO’s are in fact, vehicles of Dajjal and his Jinn, as the majority of them have been seen to be taking off and landing in the Bermuda Triangle. Dajjal’s UFO may well resemble a donkey.

When will he come?

According to various Prophetic traditions, Dajjal will appear when there will be a lack of genuine scholars, and people will be hardly speaking of Dajjal. Earthquakes will be very frequent, time will pass quickly, afflictions will appear, murders will increase, money will overflow, and the Arabs as a race will become very few. Also, two big groups will fight each other whereupon there will be a great number of casualties on both sides. Both will be Muslim and claim to be on the truth. All of the above is present in our time.

People do not trust their religious authorities anymore, especially those funded by governments or by corrupt businessmen. We are also experiencing major tremors in SA lately. Muslims are killing each other daily in the Middle-East; never mind two groups of Muslims, we have dozens of groups fighting and threatening each other, all claiming the truth for themselves. This has caused so much confusion amongst

the masses that it has now become necessary to personally verify your religion from the original sources (Qur’an and Sunnah), and to know propaganda from truth in the political sphere.

There will also be three difficult years of drought before Dajjal appears. In the first year, the Almighty will command the sky to withhold a third of its rain, and the earth to withhold a third a third of its produce. In the second year, the Almighty will command the sky to withhold two thirds of its rain, and the earth to withhold two thirds of its produce. In the third year, our Lord will command the sky to withhold all of its rain. He will command the earth to withhold all of its produce, and no plant will grow. In such time, genuine Muslims will be nourished by praising their Lord. This drought may be literal, but it may also refer to the situation of economic bankruptcy which the world finds itself today.

Politically, Arabia will be conquered until Khaibar, Constantinople (Turkey) too will fall, as well as the whole of the Levant.

The Prophetic traditions do not state if these places will be conquered from Muslims or non-Muslims, but presently they are in the control of Western-friendly governments.

Not long after the conquering of Constantinople, Dajjal will emerge.

At this time, Madinah Tayyibah will have tall white Minarets (presently the case) and it will become deserted as every sincere Muslim will join the Holy Jihad. The climax of the war will be the slaying of Dajjal at the hands of Prophet Jesus in Israel, and Al-Aqsa will become the seat of the Muslim Caliphate. In time, the Caliphate will reach the entire world.

These happenings must take place, whether the enemy likes it or not.

It will indeed be a time of great physical and spiritual danger for all.

Muslims will be obligated to support the army, whether under Imam alMahdi or not, but the West will not allow this to happen, either by means of legislation or propaganda.

What will he do?

Dajjal, who will be a human with a

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I 23

demonic soul, will perform various miracles to prove that he is God Himself. Apart from his one-eye which is clearly illustrated on the US Dollar bill above, he will have wheat in one hand, and a quiver full of arrows on the other. This will be his trademark, similar to how the Zulus wear the Assegai and the Yemenis wear the ornamental curved dagger, called the Jambiyyah. Notice the wheat and the very same spear on the right hand side of the Dollar bill above.

By means of dark sorcery that will make magicians like Dynamo and Houdini look like infants, Dajjal will have a river of fire and a river of water with him. The fire will, in fact be cool water, and the cool water, will in fact, be fire. People accepting him to be God will be thrown into his “water”, and those rejecting him will be thrown into his “fire.” He will kill people, and bring them back to life, resurrect one’s parents, friends, or family upon request, and cause the sky to rain. Those who will be fascinated by their dead parents and friends being resurrected should know that they will only be Jinn in human form. Thankfully, he will only stay in this world for 40 days, but his first day will be equal to one year, the second day will be one month, the third day will be one week, and rest of the days will be as usual.

If you will not be tested on the battlefield with your life, you will be tested in your home with your faith.

Are you prepared?

How to protect yourself?

In order to protect yourself from Dajjal, you can either chain yourself in your home and make sure you do not go out and challenge him, take up residence in Makkah or Madinah as these Cities will be protected, or recite Surah Kahf (Chapter of the Cave) every Friday. Make sure you do not listen to devilish music, dabble in witchcraft, or be overawed by the power of technology. All these factors will reduce your chances of resisting his tricks. This is an ordeal which you simply cannot fail. www.pi-media.co.uk

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