The Killing Of Mahsa Amini And Other Crimes Against Women- Double Standards Of International Media

Iran has recently been in the news after violent protests have broken out in the country. These protests have led to the killing of at least 50 people till now. The protests have been going on since over a week over the killing of Mahsa Amini. The Iranian Police authorities detained Amini for not dressing what they deem as “modest”. 

Allegedly, Iran’s “moral police” called the “Basij” are believed to be responsible for Amini’s death. However, the Iranian authorities claim that the 22-year-old woman died of a heart attack while staying in a “guidance center”– a type of re-education center where women are taught how to follow Iran’s rules on female clothing. They also released a CCTV video clip in which Amini is seen collapsing “on her own”. 

Crimes against women that happened around the same time

Since August, there have been four alleged killings of women that are political in nature, including Mahsa Amini. However, the other incidents of killings neither made it to the international media nor did they evoke the same outrage from countries, particularly the US and Israel. These are the countries that released statements of condemnation and solidarity for Amini. But failed to mention or even acknowledge the women that were subjected to crimes around the same time. One can only wonder why the killing of Mahsa Amini in one part of the world evokes international political attention and outrage. But the killings of the other women don’t even make it to the news.

Iraq

On September 20, the US troops in Baghdad shot and killed a 15-year-old Iraqi girl Zainab Essam al-Khazali. The American soldiers were stationed at the Victoria military complex, which is close to the airport in Baghdad. The US bullet killed Zainab while assisting her father on the family farm. The first important question here would be why would American forces conduct their training exercises in neighborhoods that were obviously populated.

The US troops that killed the 15-year-old girl were practicing military training in Baghdad. The incident occurred close to the notorious Abu Ghraib jail. It is the same place where members of the US Army and the Central Intelligence Agency were implicated in a string of war crimes and human rights abuses against detainees during the invasion of Iraq in 2004. The murder, which was referred to as a “random shooting,” is the subject of an inquiry, according to a statement from the Iraqi Security Media Cell.

No Outrage From the Western Media

Zainab’s killing has received little to no attention from the western media. Apart from the local news, the main platform where people talked of this heinous crime was the social media site Twitter. Highlighting no media coverage of this killing, the users pointed out the hypocrisy of the western media. Twitter users claimed that the world would have gone insane if the crime had been done by a nation other than the United States.

India

On September 15, police found two Dalit sisters hanging in Lakhimpur Kheri district of Uttar Pradesh state in India. The police later said that they were raped before being killed. The Dalits belong to the most marginalized and persecuted caste in India. The police named six suspects Chotu, Junaid, Suhail, Hafizul Rehman, Karimuddin, and Arif. “The girls and all of the accused are from the same village. Two of the accused were the “lovers’ of the Dalit sisters. The accused strangled and hanged them later, when the girls began urging them for marriage, according to Lakhimpur police. “I demand justice, the culprits should be hanged,” says the father of the victims in the Lakhimpur Kheri murder case.

History of Crime Against Dalits, Particularly Women, And Negligible Media Coverage

India has been infamous for caste discrimination and violence against Dalits, particularly Dalit women. Caste and gender discrimination have doubly oppressed the Dalit women in India. However, despite a bloody history of patriarchy and caste discrimination against women, there has been negligible international media coverage or outrage against these crimes. Due to this, there has emerged a pattern of insensitivity as well as impunity regarding these crimes.  

Mississippi, USA

On August 22, a police-involved shooting in Biloxi, Mississippi killed Mable Arrington, a 42-year-old African-American woman. Crimes against African-American people get minimal and tokenistic global attention. The media gave little to no attention to the killing of Arrington. Even the local media coverage didn’t provide any extensive information. Even the name and status of the officer involved are currently unknown. But the Biloxi Police reported no injuries caused to the officers. What led up to the shooting is also unknown, a local TV station reported. The political leaders in the United Nations are yet to condemn this killing, while the family of Arrington awaits justice.

Double Standards of International Media

The incidents of violence against Dalit women in India have not gained any significant space in the western media. And the African-American murders barely garner any international attention. 

No other story has received the level of consideration and coverage by the international media that the killing of Mahsa Amini has. Israel, tweeting about it from its official account, is also one of Iran’s biggest geostrategic rivals. 

Burning of hijabs and cutting of hair by women during protests within Iran are being interpreted as progressive signs of “regime” change by western media. Western media has surfaced arguments regarding the hijab’s centrality to Islam. It has also highlighted the Islamic governments’ obsession” to enforce it. Meanwhile, Muslim women in India are currently protesting for the right to wear the hijab. But that never made it to western media’s narrative on women’s right to choose. 

The hijab-clad Zainab al Khazali is of no political significance to the politicians at a time when the US and Iran are renegotiating the nuclear deal. The war in Ukraine has caused Europe to be desperate for gas and materials, so condemning Zainab’s killing doesn’t serve anyone’s geo-political motives. 

Some women are forced to wear the Hijab, while others are forced to remove it. The forced veiling and the forced removal of a veil both have utter disregard for a woman’s agency. There is no middle ground where she could choose for herself. Perhaps the middle ground serves no one’s political interests. 

The Case Of The Gyanvapi Mosque Explained

The Gyanvapi mosque complex is embroiled in a conflict that has yet again fuelled communal tensions in India. On Monday, September 12, the Varanasi District and Sessions Court rejected The Anjuman Intezamia Masajid Committee’s appeal evoking the 1991 Places of Worship Act against the civil petition filed by a group of five Hindu women.

This civil petition by these women sought permission to worship Hindu deities inside the grounds of the Gyanvapi mosque complex. The “Anjuman Intezamia Masajid” is the Muslim committee that manages the Gyanvapi mosque complex.

Brief History of the Gyanvapi Mosque Conflict

The Kashi Vishwanath Temple-Gyanvapi Mosque conflict began last year. In August 2021 a case was first registered and presented to the local court by five Hindu women. Then, in April 2022 the district court in Varanasi appointed an advocate commissioner namely Ajay Kumar Mishra to this case. In the same month, an important announcement was made by a civil court that affected the Hindu-Muslim tensions significantly. The announcement was a verdict that ordered the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) that inspection be done in the mosque. This inspection demanded a video survey of the Gyanvapi mosque be done.

One significant development happened on May 19 when this video survey was apparently “leaked” by the Hindu group. The controversial video apparently revealed a stone shaft that allegedly is a symbol of a Hindu deity, inside the mosque. However, even this claim has been refuted by many people. After that, the court sealed off a portion of the mosque without allowing the Intizamia committee to argue their case.

The Hindu group claimed the presence of a “shivling”, the holy Hindu artifact, inside the mosque. Simultaneously, after a petition by the Anjuman Iztizamiya Masajid, the supreme court was also looking into this case. The petition by the Intizamiya committee sought the intervention of the supreme court. The committee doubted the nature of the investigation being carried out by the district and civil court. The committee questioned the very basis of the petition.

The supreme court at that point in time didn’t comment much on the presence of a shivling inside the mosque. However, it did order that security is provided to the Indian Muslims worshippers in the Gyanvapi mosque. At the same time, the supreme court also said that the district court may continue to address this issue. The case will now be heard on September 22.

Historical claims at the Gyanvapi Mosque Complex

Many Hindu petitioners claim that the Gyanvapi Mosque was made after Muslims demolished the historic Hindu temple Kashi Vishwanath. They also claim that it was under the orders of the Muslim Mughal emperor Aurangzeb that the temple was razed. Many Hindus still ascertain that the mosque is still the original sacred site of Hindu worship.

Along with the Ram Janmabhoomi Temple- Babri Masjid site in Ayodhya, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s Ram Temple movement also sought to “liberate” the Kashi-Vishwanath Temple-Gyanvapi Mosque site and the Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi in Mathura. The Gyanvapi mosque is one of the three mosques that make up some catchphrases of the Hindutva. One of the popular ones is “Ayodhya toh jhaanki hai, Kashi-Mathura baaki hai,“. The BJP and other Hindutva organizations in the 1980s popularised this slogan. The slogan reads, “Ayodhya is just a trailer; Kashi and Mathura are next.”

The Intizamiya Committee approached the court claiming the nature of the petition of the Hindu group is in itself questionable. The mosque’s management committee claimed that the mosque next was Waqf property. What serves as the foundation for the defense of the Muslim committee is the Places of Worship Act of 1991.

Places of Worship Act of 1991

The long title describes it as “An Act to prohibit conversion of any place of worship and to provide for the maintenance of the religious character of any place of worship as it existed on the 15th day of August 1947, and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.”

A place of worship belonging to any religious tradition cannot be converted entirely—or even partially—into a place of worship belonging to another tradition, or even into a different branch of the same tradition, as stated in Section 3 of the Act.

According to Section 4(1), a place of worship “must continue to have the same character as it was on August 15, 1947” in terms of its religious affiliation.

As per Section 4(2), any lawsuit or legal action related to the conversion of a place of worship that existed on August 15, 1947, and was pending before any court, shall be dropped, and no new lawsuit or legal action shall be brought.

Section 5 states that the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case and any related lawsuit, appeal, or action are exempt from the Act’s application. Islamophobia

The Ram Temple movement was at its height when the then Prime Minister PV Narsimha Rao introduced the Places of Worship Act. L. K. Advani’s rath yatra had increased communal tensions even before the extremist Hindutva mobs demolished the mosque. Attempting to avoid any further communal violence, the congress government passed the bill in the parliament.  

What did the Courts say about the Places of Worship Act in its Varanasi judgment?

District Judge A K Vishvesha noted in his ruling that one of the defendant’s “principal contentions” was that the plaintiff’s lawsuit was barred under Section 4 of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991. The judgment did note that the plaintiffs claimed that “they were worshiping…at the disputed spot ceaselessly from a long time till 1993”. After 1993, they were only permitted to worship the aforementioned deities once a year under Uttar Pradesh’s regulated administration. Thus, according to the plaintiffs, they continued to frequently worship at the contested location even after 15 August 1947. “Therefore, The Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, does not operate as a bar on the suit of plaintiffs, and the suit is not barred by…the Act”.

The constitutional validity of the 1991 Act was not under challenge. Nor had it been examined before the Supreme Court Bench that heard the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title suit. Even so, the court, while disagreeing with certain conclusions drawn by the Allahabad High Court, about the act made specific observations in its support.

Hindus and Muslims have prayed side by side in Varanasi. The heavily guarded structure serves as a reminder of this sight’s tense past. It is also a reminder of communal disputes and unrest in India. A country where Hindus make up the majority and Muslims constitute the largest religious minority.

Political Activities Resume In Kashmir After Three Years

After a hiatus of more than three years, political activities are back in Kashmir. After the government pressed its election machinery into action, Kashmir-based unionist political parties resumed their activities. Even though the Election Commission of India (ECI) has not released dates for the election to Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, the election preparations are underway.

Inclusion of Non-local Voters in Kashmir’s Election

The ECI has begun the revision of electoral rolls and the process is expected to be completed by the end of October this year.

The chief electoral officer of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), Hirdesh Kumar had last month informed that non-locals who are staying temporarily in Jammu and Kashmir can also register as voters. Non-locals who are staying in for the purpose of education, business, employment, and labour are eligible for voting in J&K assembly elections. Armed forces personnel, stationed at peace stations in Kashmir are also eligible to vote.

The announcement by the chief electoral officer has created a buzz in J&K Union Territory. Kashmir-based regional parties have called the new voters “imported” voters of the ruling party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Indian Muslims

Controversial Delimitation Exercise in Kashmir

Earlier, the BJP-led central government had carried out the process of delimitation in J&K. The delimitation commission created seven new constituencies. Further, it also changed boundaries of several constituencies.

Kashmir-based politicians criticised the exercise as the delimitation commission gave Hindu-majority Jammu region a disproportionate number of seats. The act was aimed at bringing Jammu’s electoral representation to par with Muslim -the majority Kashmir region. The delimitation exercise is carried out so that there is an equal number of voters in all constituencies. However, this was not the case in the recently held delimitation in J&K.

The main aim of the delimitation exercise in J&K was to make sure that the number of Muslim and Hindu legislative (or Kashmir and Jammu-based) members in J&K’s assembly is almost equal.

Political Activities Resume in Kashmir

After senior Congress leader and former Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad resigned from the Congress party and announced to launch of a new party, political activities resumed in J&K. Several Jammu, as well as Kashmir-based senior political leaders, joined Azad.

Azad has held several rallies in Kashmir as well as in Jammu. He has not formally launched his party but has announced that he will launch it in the coming days. Since several senior politicians have joined Azad, his party will upset electoral equations for Kashmir-based parties.

BJP in Election Mode

Meanwhile, BJP is also in election mode. The president of India recently nominated a prominent Gujjar Muslim leader, Ghulam Ali Khatana, to the Upper House of the parliament. The BJP has made this move to woo the tribal community of Gujjar and Bakerwals. The tribal community forms the third largest ethnic group in J&K, after Kashmiri Muslims and Dogras.

The announcement of the revival of Village Defence Committees (now known as VDGs) by the central government has also come just before the elections. People in Jammu villages where VDGs are present will keep this into consideration while voting.

Kashmir-based Parties Missing from Campaign

What is surprising is that Kashmir’s two old parties- National Conference (NC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) seem to be missing from the campaign. These two parties have not been in news recently. The only announcements coming from them are through their social media channels.

Meanwhile, Altaf Bukhari’s recently formed party, Apni party, has been campaigning for some time now. The party has been calling for early elections ever since its launch. It has also promised to bring in several meaningful schemes for the people of J&K.

The Dilemma for Kashmir-based Parties

This election in J&K is going to be different. The discourse and the narrative in Kashmir Issue have changed. Kashmir-based parties will need to adopt a new vocabulary. Soft separatism, which many Kashmir-based parties used to employ in past election campaigns will not be acceptable this time. It will neither be acceptable to the central government nor will the people of Kashmir buy it.

One thing is sure, Kashmir-based parties will heavily rely on the promises of the restoration of statehood. Some parties, including NC and PDP, will go a step further to call for the restoration of autonomy or Article 370.

However, people will not buy the campaign around Article 370 restoration. As Azad has also made it clear that he will not focus on the restoration of Article 370. People also know that restoration of autonomy is impossible now.

No Boycott Campaigns

This election will also be different in the sense that there will be no boycott calls. Most of the senior separatist leaders died while others are in jail. Further, the India government has banned all separatist-leaning organisations.

With new players, new constituencies, new voters and new discourse, the J&K Legislative Assembly elections are going to be interesting.

Rectifying Nuclear Imbalance With Israel Should Be A Strategic Priority For Egypt, SA And Turkey

Thanks to America’s dark embrace of Israeli fascism and Lebensraum policies, the Israeli nuclear arsenal continues to represent an existential strategic nightmare to hundreds of millions of Muslims in the Middle East and beyond. This is why responsible Muslim leaderships must explore every conceivable option to deliver our people from this gargantuan peril.

Israeli officials, addicted to bamboozling gullible Western media by saying Israel wouldn’t be the first country to introduce nuclear weapons to the Middle East, would not spell out the real goals of possessing at least 90 nuclear warheads. It is certainly not to prevent a recurrence of the Holocaust or as an ultimate insurance policy against a prospective destruction of Jews by an extremely powerful enemy.

Sinister Goals

There are several sinister goals Israel is trying to achieve or has already achieved by virtue of possessing a sizeable nuclear arsenal, along with the required delivery systems. These goals include the following:

1. Achieving perpetual strategic superiority over the entire Arab world as well as regional non-Arab Muslim countries such as Turkey and Iran. Which amounts to forcing the Arab-Muslim Middle East into a strategic inferiority vis-à-vis the apartheid Jewish state.

2-Fortifying the Zionist scheme by adopting unprecedented Draconian measures against Palestinians in Israel itself and the Occupied Territories (already over 50%  of the total population). 

Such exceptionally harsh measures might involve, inter alia, a partial genocide,  carried out under the guise of a disingenuous civil war, concocted by the Zionist leadership as a pretext, which would trigger a massive flight by Palestinians similar to the Syrian or Ukrainian scenarios.

This is not a fantastic scenario as some observers might be tempted to think. Israel has already decapitated all remaining possibilities for the establishment of an independent and territorially contiguous Palestinian state.

Moreover, the US seems either utterly unable or unwilling or both, to force a recalcitrant Israel to dismantle or abandon its illegal settlements in the West Bank.

Hence, Israel might eventually reach the conclusion that ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, even one carrying the hallmarks of a real genocide, is the only solution for the worsening demographic crisis facing the Jewish state.

A few years ago, Jewish settler leaders expressed their hope that Palestinians would flee without a lot of bloodshed!

“But in case they don’t, we will have to do the job by hook or crook.”

This writer heard one settler from the settlement of Kiryat Arba near al-Khalil saying“ I wouldn’t mind killing a few thousand Palestinians if that would trigger the departure of a million or 2 million Arabs.”

Menachem Begin; a former terrorist Prime Minister of Israel, in his Book, the “Revolt,” described the expulsion of the bulk of Palestinians following major Jewish massacres of Palestinian villagers in 1948, such as Dir Yasin, as a miraculous breakthrough since Israel would not have been created without it.  Hence, present Zionist leaders pray that the “miracle” be repeated and millions of Palestinians would leave, admitting though that “no feat like this would be bloodless.”  

The reason I specifically mentioned Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey has to do with Israel’s Talmudic ambitions to occupy large chunks of these countries “when the opportunity arises.”

According to Jewish History, Jewish Religion, The Weight of Three Thousand years” by Israel Shahak, Israel’s Talmudic borders are as follows: “In the south, all the Sinai Peninsula and a part of northern Egypt up to the environs of Cairo; in the East, all of Jordan a large chunk of Saudi Arabia, all of Kuwait, and a large part of Iraq up to the Euphrates; in the north, all of Lebanon, all of Syria and a large part of southern Turkey up to Lake Van, and in the West, Cyprus.”

These ambitions are not abstract or far-fetched notions that belong to the realm of the impossible as far as powerful Talmudic circles are concerned.

According to Shahak, “an enormous body of research and learned discussion, based on these borders, embodied in atlases, books, articles and more popular forms of propaganda is being published in Israel.

What can be done to rectify this unbearable anomaly?

I think treating this matter begins with renewing and reinforcing our realization that this strategic aberration cannot be allowed to linger forever since its continuation is tantamount to perpetuating and consolidating Jewish hegemony and supremacy over one-third of the world’s Muslims. 

Yes, we do realize that without a submissively pliant America, Israel is a little more than a Kosher idle wind. But for the bulk of the Zionist clique effectively controlling the American government, Israel must always come first, even before America itself.

I don’t believe in the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and I absolutely despise the silly antics of anti-Semites, past and present. Nonetheless, we as Muslims must have enough rectitude and moral honesty to call the spade a spade.

Moreover, we shouldn’t go too far by indulging in infinite absurdity like babbling about defeating “American imperialism!” as a prelude to defeating Israel. In fact, destiny and history are evidently more able to defeat America.  True, America is not a lame duck yet, but it is no longer the omnipotent superpower it once was as we have seen the limitations of its powers ever since the outbreak of the Ukrainian crisis.

We certainly are not seeking to achieve the Mutual Assured Destruction equation with America. We, too, have to be aware of our own limitations. Nuclear Power 

However, in a world where brutal force has the loudest voice, we can’t be like helpless orphans awaiting rescue from a bunch of thieves, rapists and child killers. After all who will help us if we don’t help ourselves?

I am not alluding to the little men reclining in Israel’s lap!

“When I say “We,” I am not thinking of this Sheikh, or that king or Emir. These mentally-retarded “little men” are more than just part of the problem. They are the problem itself. They are a huge burden upon themselves and their peoples as the strategic preoccupation of most of them doesn’t really exceed a woman’s underwear. They are a cancer upon the collective conscience of the Muslim Umma.

In the Muslim world, there are success stories and the overall strategic outlook is not that gloomy.  Nonetheless, I believe a close nuclear cooperation between certain Muslim countries must be ensured and cemented.

It is really shameful and quite embarrassing that a country such as Egypt, with a population of over a hundred million people, remains without a nuclear deterrent. But Egypt has only itself to blame.

Conclusion

In the final analysis, a country whose masses cannot freely elect their rulers cannot really be independent and truly sovereign.

But we are talking about contemptible rulers who value the “legitimacy” that comes from the powerful Jewish lobby in America more than that which comes from their own peoples’ acceptance of them.

Unfortunately, this is the case in virtually all Arab countries from Manama to Casablanca. We all know that rectifying the nuclear imbalance with Israel is a paramount duty, though an exceptionally arduous task.

However, if a duty cannot be carried out unless certain requirements are secured, securing these requirements becomes a paramount duty itself.  I can only say that much about this extremely sensitive subject.

I do care about my Umma, which ought to be one Umma, not 55 states, Sheikhdoms and fiefdoms with conflicting loyalties, depending on the mood of their mostly unelected ignorant leaders.

A few weeks ago, I was asked about my happiest day in life and my sadist. The happiest day was when Pakistan, a country I love but have never been to, succeeded in detonating its first nuclear device. And the Sadist day was when Israel’s man in Egypt, Abdul Fattah Sissi, in a bloody coup backed by Israel, Saudi Arabia and UAE, and, of course, the US, toppled Professor Muhammed Mursi, the first ever and last democratically-elected president in Egypt’s 7000-year-history.

Pakistan Flood Puts Climate Injustice In The Spotlight: The Age Of Catastrophe

The fight against climate injustice: About one-third of Pakistan is currently underwater from floods. With over 1500 deaths, thousands injured, and hundreds of thousands displaced, the catastrophe unraveling is not something new.

From Uganda to Pakistan, extreme climate events are devastating the lives of millions of already vulnerable populations. Yet, while the low-income nations continue to suffer, wealthy countries watch in silence.

This is Mzemo’s The Age of Catastrophe and here’s how the Pakistan flood is highlighting the global climate injustice:

Pakistan’s Catastrophic Floods

Collapsed villages, millions displaced, and hundreds dead— the monsoon season this year is unraveling in havoc. Across Pakistan, flooding induced by torrential rain (five to seven times the typical rain) that started in July and peaked in August has left millions homeless.

The devastation started with an extreme heatwave melting down snow from over Himalayan 7000 glaciers. Followed by heavy rainfall, causing massive flooding in mid-July, compounded by the melting glacier rushing downwards from the mountain.

Since June, Pakistan has recorded over 15,000 fatalities and over 13,000 injuries. The aftermath of the flood will bring increased diseases, poverty, hunger, and massive rebuilding costs. Especially now when over a million houses are damaged or destroyed. Early estimates show the damage to cost over $30 billion.

“This whole year we have borne the humanitarian payload of other people’s carbon-rich lifestyles,”

Sherry Rehman, Pakistan’s federal minister for climate change

Soon scientists will find the root cause of the devastating floods and long-term climate change is definitely an undeniable reason. However, when it comes to allocating responsibilities for the climate-attributable costs, the true culprits will likely back off.

And Pakistan is not the only one. Countries around the globe are suffering from similar cases of climate injustice.

Countries Most Vulnerable to Climate Injustice

2022 has been a devastating year for the human-induced climate crisis. From drought in the Horn of Africa to mega-fires and typhoons in the US, the world is amidst climate change catastrophes.

Human Rights on the Brink of Tragedy Due to a Severe Drought in the Horn of Africa

Even though the developing countries have done the least to contribute, they are at the forefront of climate catastrophe. Heatwaves and droughts have become unbearably frequent in Africa.

Then there are storms—the warmer the air, the stronger winds and rain across the tropics. And, by 2050, the sea level will have risen so high that floods that used to hit once in a century will hit various coastal cities every year.

The inequality of climate change comes together hardest in these vulnerable countries. Even though these people have barely contributed to global warming, they are amongst the most susceptible.

But, here’s the truth: building a climate-change resilient economy is expensive, and countries like Madagascar, Pakistan, Bangladesh, or Somalia don’t have enough funds.

These heart-wrenching cases are a few of the millions highlighting the sheer inadequacy of global superpowers in raising sufficient funding and the climate injustice at the heart of it all.

Finding the Culprits

The current carbon-emitting hotspots, including China, India, and Brazil, look less guilty when you realize that they have only recently become part of the problem. Whereas, the real culprits are not ready to accept how unjust climate changes are.

The inequalities that have brought one-third of Pakistan underwater are not discussed enough. In addition, the world’s most significant carbon emitters have consistently failed to support climate change-induced loss and damage measures while also falling short on mitigation and adaptation efforts while committing to lessen the harm caused to the most vulnerable countries. Research conducted in 2020 found that the Global North has emitted about 92% of the CO2 that has pushed the planet to today’s catastrophe. Whereas Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and Africa together account for less than 8% of the emission.

Countries are also overspending their carbon budgets. According to Oxfam International, the wealthiest 1% produces twice as much as the poorest 50%. The two countries most responsible for the climate crisis, China and the United States, aren’t discussing climate solutions.

But, the Pakistan flood has put climate injustice in the spotlight once again. A climate justice movement planned for street protests and meetings on September 9, 2022, in a number of nations across the world to show support for Pakistan’s flood victims.

It’s high time to realize that what’s happening to Pakistan will continue to repeat elsewhere. International cooperation is necessary to decent one another and put an end to climate crime.

Centuries-Old Injustice with a New Face

Be it climate change, slavery, or colonialism, and the rich and powerful nations are quick to dismiss their historical responsibility. 

Yes, every country must decarbonize its energy system and focus more on sustainability. But, the rich and powerful countries frequently dismiss their historical responsibility, whether for colonialism, slavery, or climate change. All countries must decarbonize their energy systems and manage their land and ecosystems appropriately and sustainably.

However, the poor world will not forget the part that affluent nations played in causing today’s global climate crises. As the cost of climate-related losses rises, so will global calls for climate justice.

Sabra And Shatila: A Wound That Won’t Heal

The Sabra and Shatila massacre is one of the many massacres carried out by Israel with the help of Lebanese right-wing parties, which claimed the lives of 3,000 people on a continuous slaughter for three days.

The blood of the martyrs and innocent children who died in the Sabra and Shatila camps in Lebanon will not be washed away after 40 years and the passage of time. 

Allied to the occupation on both the political and military levels, the Lebanese Phalange Party and numerous militias of occupation agents, the Lebanese Phalange Party allied themselves with the occupation. 

Premeditatedly, determinedly, and prepared, since the establishment of the temporary occupation entity in 1948, one of the largest, greatest, and most heinous massacres in Arab-Israeli conflict history has taken place.

There was no specific target for this massacre, but rather it was committed against all human beings. There were also thousands of Lebanese martyrs and martyrs of Arab nationalities.

Sabra and Shatila: The fateful day

On September 16, the occupation army fired flares over the two camps. Three teams of Phalange Party militias, each composed of fifty armed men, stormed the alleyways of the two camps spread over one square kilometer.

To begin the process of extermination and indiscriminate killing, they used white flags and firearms to deceive the residents and ask them to leave the houses with white flags.

The Lebanese Phalange militia killed everyone present in the two camps and mutilated the corpses, slaughtered children and infants, and extracted fetuses from the mother’s wombs. 

They raped many women, robbed them of their jewellery, and killed entire families.

While the occupation army prevented anyone from leaving the two camps, it also prevented the media from entering the area and reporting what was happening.

The families are saying their goodbyes

The massacre took the lives of close to 3,500 Palestinian martyrs over three days and roughly 1900 Lebanese martyrs, in addition to 300 to 500 missing people whose whereabouts are still unknown.

Days passed with the dead still there, and nobody was able to enter the two camps or the nearby communities.

To disassociate itself from the murder, the occupation claimed in a Hebrew book titled “Lebanon 1982 – The Road to War” that the Lebanese Phalange Party carried out the slaughter on its own in retaliation for the assassination of its leader Bashir Gemayel.

Acquittal of Israeli officials

On September 28, 1982, under pressure from the Israeli street, the government of the enemy of Israel was forced to form a committee to investigate “the atrocities committed by a unit of the Lebanese forces against the civilian population in the Sabra and Shatila camps.” It was called the “Kahan Committee,” after the President of the Israeli Supreme Court, Judge Yitzhak. Kahane who chaired the committee.

Kahan’s report, which was issued in February 1983, absolved senior Israeli officials, especially the prime minister, the minister of war, and the army chief of staff, of direct responsibility for the massacre, claiming that they were not aware of what was happening, and denying any role of the Israeli army in the massacre. racism

The report was satisfied with placing personal responsibility on the then Minister of Defense, Ariel Sharon, for ignoring the “possibility of bloodshed and revenge,” which forced him, with mounting pressures, to resign from his position as defense minister only, but he remained a minister without a portfolio.

the fear of the massacre survivors

The occupying power tries from time to time to evade its historical and criminal responsibility for the Sabra and Shatila massacre and to hold the Maronites alone responsible for its implementation, despite the approval in the last lines of the decision to allow them to storm the two camps from the highest levels of Israel. Menachem Begin, Defense Minister Ariel Sharon, Foreign Affairs Yitzhak Shamir, Mossad commander Nahum Admoni, the army Raphael Eitan, the Northern Command Amir Drori, and Military Intelligence Yehoshah Saguh. These decisions could not be overridden, or skipped, which confirms their responsibility for the massacre.

International Tongue Supports Palestine, Hates Normalization!

Israeli steps have recently accelerated in consolidating public normalization with a growing number of Arab and Islamic countries. Since many Arab countries no longer see “Israel” as their enemy, yet their indispensable ally in their war against people and seizing the future of peace, technology and innovation.

While some Arab governments continue to normalize with the occupation “state”, there are Arab countries and positions that have rejected normalization with “Israel” as it entails beautifying and legitimizing the existence of the occupation in Palestinian land.

Political Positions Against Normalization

From Mesopotamia, Iraq records a historic day in support of Palestine and Jerusalem, and the collective position of more than 270 Iraqi parliamentarians, who voted in favor of a law criminalizing normalization with “Israel”. It is a position of victory for Iraq first, then Palestine and Jerusalem second. It also sends a message to the Palestinian people, that Iraq refuses to sell Palestine at a cheap price, and will remain side by side with Palestine, supporting the rights of its people, and criminalizing any form of relationship with “Israel” at all times.

As for Kuwait, it seems that the government and its people are strict in boycotting sporting and commercial dealings with Israel, as the Kuwaiti authorities continue to ban the entry of ships carrying goods to and from Israel into Kuwait’s territorial waters.

Kuwait has emerged as the most Arab country and people whose positions cause concern, confusion and curiosity of Israel, its officials and institutions, especially Jewish think tanks and media.

For his part, Tunisian President Kais Saied Al-Amal included the criminalization of normalization in the new Tunisian constitution issued in the Tunisian Official Gazette on June 30, 2022. In the preface to the text, he referred to “the Palestinian people’s right to their stolen land and the establishment of their state on it after its liberation with its capital, Jerusalem.”

Palestinian Salute to International Positions Against Normalization of Sports

Solidarity march in Morocco with Palestine

A noticeable increase in the number of those who reject sports normalization with the Israeli enemy, with a new group of Arab athletes and solidarity activists from the region joining the ranks of the heroic boycotters who rejected the discourse of “sports for the sake of sport” and “sports above politics”. This record that many international sports associations and institutions did not stop repeating until the trumpets of Arab normalization adopted it and those chasing after some material and moral profits.

With their withdrawal from a number of international tournaments and competitions, the Kuwaitis Muhammad Al-Fadhli, Abdul Razzaq Al-Baghli and Muhammad Al-Awadi, the Jordanians Musa Al-Qutb, Muhammad Al-Saud, Mahmoud Al-Khatib, Ahmed Al-Borini, Muhammad Farhan, Ahmed Al-Batoush, Maysir Al-Dahamshe, Abdullah Shaheen, the Lebanese Aquilina Al-Shayeb, the Algerians Ibrahim Sarqama and Ahmed Touba, in addition to the Iranian Women’s Hockey Team, emphasized one fact that the arenas for resisting normalization with the Israeli colonial and apartheid regime are numerous, and that sport, with its popularity, is on top.

Ons Jabeur, President of the Tunisian tennis champion

We salute the official and popular stances following the insistence of the President of the Tunisian tennis champion Ons Jabeur that her team participate in the Women’s World Cup in Helsinki – Finland from 2-8 February 2020, despite her prior knowledge that the lottery placed it in the same group as the representative team of the Israeli colonial system.

Let us pressure on the Arab sports bodies to raise their voice against the hypocrisy of these Western sports bodies and dominate them, and to demand consistency in policies, and thus the exclusion of Israel in order to end the occupation, settler-colonialism and apartheid regime that has prevailed for more than seven decades.

Ali Farag, the Egyptian squash champion

As the Egyptian squash champion Ali Farag said: […] We were never allowed to talk about politics in sports, but ,suddenly, it is allowed now. As long as it is allowed; then people may look at the oppression happening everywhere in the world. Palestinians are going through this persecution for the past 74 years. […] As long as we can talk now about Ukraine; then we can talk about Palestine as well.

Cultural Boycott

The Price of Normalization: Arab Cultural Works Decide to Exclude Artists Who Were Involved in Normalization Works

Roger Waters, British rock legend and co-founder of the group Pink Floyd, visits Israeli separation wall surrounding the West Bank town of Bethlehem, 21 June 2006.

As awareness of Israel’s oppression of Palestinians grows, more and more artists from across the world are joining the cultural boycott. Support for the cultural boycott and cancellations of performances receive very significant media exposure in Israel, showing ordinary Israelis that there is increasing opposition to Israel’s denial of Palestinian rights.

Many high-profile artists have cancelled events in ‘Israel’

Lauryn Hill

Top artists including Elvis Costello, Gil Scott-Heron, Lauryn Hill, Faithless, Marianah, U2, Bjork, Zakir Hussain, Jean-Luc Godard, Snoop Dogg, Cat Power, and Vanessa Paradis have cancelled performances in ‘Israel’ or declined to perform there. Despite offering large sums of money to international artists to defy the cultural boycott, Israeli promoters complain that it is becoming increasingly challenging for them to attract famous artists.

Thousands of artists from across the world now support the cultural boycott

Thousands of artists and cultural workers have signed public statements in support of the cultural boycott. In 2015, more than a thousand cultural figures in the UK signed a cultural boycott pledge. BDS-related initiatives have been launched in Montreal (Canada), Ireland, South Africa, Switzerland, Lebanon, and the US. Distinguished cultural figures who have endorsed the cultural boycott of Israel include the late Stéphane Hessel, Holocaust survivor and contributor to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Chuck D (pictured left), Roger Waters (pictured above spray painting apartheid wall), Talib Kweli, John Berger, Arundhati Roy, Iain Banks, Judith Butler, Junot Diaz, Naomi Klein, Ken Loach, Alice Walker, Angela Davis, Mira Nair, Mike Leigh and many others.

Myanmar’s Genocide On The Rohingya Muslims: An Inspiring Interview With A Heroic Refugee

Authors Note – This week’s article is a special edition as I have collaborated with a Rohingya refugee living in Cox’s Bazaar camp in Bangladesh after fleeing the Myanmar genocide. His name is Jamal Hossain. I have also collaborated with Rohingyatographer Magazine, a unique project created by a team of talented photographers based in Cox’s Bazaar. They have kindly allowed me to share some of their thought-provoking photography. A special thank you to both collaborations.

Over One Million Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazaar

Rohingya Muslims are still waiting for justice and the protection of their human rights after the Myanmar military launched a brutal regime of ethnic cleansing in Rakhine State on the 25th of August, 2017. The Myanmar military began a sweeping campaign of massacres, rape and arson against the Rohingya population. Approximately 750,000 Rohingya fled their homes and sought refuge in precarious, flood-type camps in Bangladesh.

Over 1.1 million Rohingya refugees have fled ongoing violence in Myanmar. Many stateless Rohingya live in the world’s largest refugee camp, Cox’s Bazaar, Bangladesh. Many Rohingya say the camp conditions and safety have deteriorated as the humanitarian crisis prolongs. In 2021, aid groups sought nearly $1 billion in donor funding as shortages have grown acute.

Additionally, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have fled to neighbouring countries by land or boat for many decades due to ongoing violence and persecution. Five years later, the Myanmar government has still not been held accountable for crimes against humanity and acts of genocide. Moreover, an UN-mandated fact-finding mission on Myanmar says abuses and rights violations in Rakhine “undoubtedly amount to the gravest crimes under international law”.

Who are the Rohingya?

The Rohingya are an ethnic group who lived for centuries in Myanmar until the government committed genocide on their population. The Rohingya are known as the “world’s most persecuted minority”.

Myanmar does not recognize the Rohingya as part of its 135 official ethnic groups. Since 1982 they have been denied citizenship in Myanmar, effectively rendering them stateless. Nearly all the remaining Rohingya in Myanmar live in the western coastal state of Rakhine. It is one of the poorest states in Myanmar, with ghetto-like camps and a lack of essential services and opportunities. Refugees are not allowed to leave without the government’s permission.

An Interview With Jamal, A Brave Rohingya Refugee

Who is Jamal?

While researching and writing this article, I had the privilege of interviewing Jamal, a Rohingya refugee currently living in Cox’s Bazar refugee camp in Bangladesh.

Jamal is twenty-years-old and is originally from Myanmar, Rakhine state. In 2017, Jamal and his family fled to Bangladesh and are currently living in an uncomfortable makeshift camp. I am helping Jamal to get his story across to the international community. Jamal works at a local news agency, “The Territorial News”, highlighting the Rohingya histories, cultures and traditions.

The image below shows Jamal helping a 75-year-old Rohingya refugee, Maher Khatun, who is suffering from serious health complications in the camp. The refugees have minimal access to health care services or supplies. Despite Jamal having very little, he talks about how he often brings her to the nearest shop to feed her milk and juices.

Jamal’s Unforgettable Nightmare

On the 25th of August 2017, Jamal and his family fled Myanmar and walked for five days straight until they arrived in Bangladesh. They started living in makeshift camps in Cox’s Bazaar while the World Food Programme provided them with essentials.

Jamal speaks of how he fled from the gunshots and the Burmese military as they eradicated his people.

“My journey was horrible and an unforgettable nightmare. It took me and my family a long time to escape Myanmar and to get safe and sound to Bangladesh. On our way here, we wandered like prey being hunted, hiding in paddy fields and forests, starving for days, and feeding on raw leaves or weeds. Those fields were full of wounded souls, crawling among corpses and blood, just trying to make it towards the safe zone. I often thought: “today is my last day in this world”, but luckily God was beside me, and he wished for me to be alive.”

“They Planted Nightmares in Me, but I Harvested Dreams”

Jamal began teaching children as a freelance volunteer in the refugee camps. Rohingya refugees must stay within the confinement of the camps. In addition, only informal education is allowed for children under the age of 15 years.

Jamal has lost everything his home, country, citizenship, friends, and education. Although they planted nightmares within him, Jamal used this trauma to harvest new dreams for himself. Remarkably, Jamal is brave and optimistic despite everything he has endured. Jamal hopes that one day he will settle down in a peaceful country. In the future, Jamal wishes to become a teacher and continue helping people.

The Lingering Trauma & Deplorable Camp Conditions

Five years later, the Rohingya still face many challenges in Cox’s Bazaar camps. Fires have ravaged many camps, destroying many makeshift homes and personal belongings. Furthermore, severe monsoon floods have made conditions considerably worse. The Rohingya faced COVID-19 challenges with very few resources.

Since August 2017, human rights organizations have interviewed hundreds of refugees living in Bangladesh. They described brutal scenes where Burmese soldiers systematically killed and raped villagers before torching their homes. During the brutal crackdown, the security forces killed thousands of people and burned down nearly 400 villages.

There has been a rise in gender-based violence and reported sexual violence in the camps. A climate of impunity prevails as no formal justice system or accountability measures exist.

Most Rohingya refugees live in camps with population densities of less than 15 square metres per person. This is below the minimum international guidelines for refugee camps.

Moreover, Bangladesh has severely restricted the Rohingya’s livelihoods, movement, and education. Hence, Bangladesh has closed community-based schools, arbitrarily destroyed shops, and imposed new travel restrictions.

International Court of Justice: Genocide Case Against Myanmar

In November 2019, Gambia filed a case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The case concerns Myanmar’s alleged genocide against the ethnic Rohingya population in Rakhine State. The Gambian government alleged that the Myanmar military committed the genocidal acts of “killing, causing serious bodily and mental harm, inflicting conditions that are calculated to bring about physical destruction, imposing measures to prevent births, and forcible transfers intended to destroy the Rohingya group in whole or in part.”

The ICJ hearings are the next step in this landmark case to break the cycle of violence and impunity. According to Human Rights Watch and the Global Justice Centre, this case could widely scrutinize Myanmar’s longstanding international crimes.

What is the Rohingya Refugees’ Future?

Myanmar Coup 2021

Prospects for the Rohingya people to return to their land have only grown dimmer following the Myanmar coup in February 2021. This has re-ignited conflicts in Myanmar and worsened the existing humanitarian crisis. The coup has further destabilized Myanmar triggering a nationwide civil disobedience movement.

Since the coup, junta security forces have carried out mass killings, torture, sexual violence, and arbitrary arrests of the Rohingya. Rights groups claim this could amount to crimes against humanity. Additionally, over 1,500 Rohingya were killed since the coup was established. The Rohingya who are currently living in Rakhine State are facing systematic abuses. These abuses amount to crimes of apartheid, persecution, and deprivation of liberty. 

Repatriate or Resettle?

The international community must help either repatriate or resettle the Rohingya people and end this ongoing humanitarian crisis. Moreover, the people in Bangladesh have already suffered enough. Thus, the international community must compensate them for their generosity in welcoming millions of refugees.

Jamal interviewed different community members at the refugee camp who spoke about wanting different outcomes for their futures. Some Rohingya want a dignified return to their land with equal rights and protection measures established. However, whether these protection measures could be effectively introduced remains uncertain. Other community members discuss their wishes to resettle in a third country with new opportunities and fundamental rights.

Final Thoughts

The international response to Myanmar’s ethnic cleansing regime was fragmented and halting. Word leaders preferred quiet diplomacy that achieved little over strategic measures to place real pressure on Myanmar. We must establish a cohesive international response to protect the Rohingya people’s fundamental rights effectively.

We hope for Jamal and all Rohingya refugees that one day they will have a safe and peaceful place to live. As Nelson Mandela once said, “to deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity”.