Tag: #palestine

  • Mohsin Naqvi meets Pope Francis

    Mohsin Naqvi meets Pope Francis

    Interior Minister of Pakistan Mohsin Naqvi on June 4 met the head of the Catholic Church Pope Francis at the Vatican City during his European visit.

    The minister received a warm welcome upon his arrival in Vatican City. The News reported that both leaders discussed ways to promote peace, brotherhood, interfaith harmony, and dialogue.

    The Pope conveyed a message of peace to the people of Pakistan and also mentioned that the Prime Minister of Pakistan had sent him an invitation to visit the country, stating, “I will try to visit Pakistan”.

    He also expressed concerns over the situation in Palestine and stressed that interfaith dialogue is essential for resolving issues.

    Naqvi thanked the Pope for his stance on Palestine and praised his services in promoting global peace and harmony.

  • Speak up for Gaza: Malala wants to share stories from Palestine after being part of ‘We Are Lady Parts’

    Speak up for Gaza: Malala wants to share stories from Palestine after being part of ‘We Are Lady Parts’

    In the second episode of the new season of ‘We Are Lady Parts,’ viewers got a big surprise: a guest appearance by women’s rights activist Malala Yousafzai.

    The Channel 4 comedy follows an all-women Muslim punk band trying to make it big. The main characters, Amina, Saira, Ayesha, Momtaz, and Bisma, are the show’s heart. Malala, the youngest Nobel Prize winner in history, made a special appearance, stunning the audience.

    In the episode, Bisma’s daughter, Imani, is suspended for throwing eggs at a teacher who removed slavery from the curriculum. She tells her mother, “I did what Malala would do.” This inspired the band to write ‘Malala Made Me Do It,’ with lyrics praising Malala’s bravery.

    Malala appears in a fantasy scene, wearing a beaded dress and a crystal-studded cowboy hat, riding a fake horse in a western-themed setting.
    Malala shared her experience with Vogue, revealing she is a fan of the show. She praised its representation of Muslim characters as leads. At a film premiere, she met the show’s creator, Nida Manzoor, and expressed her admiration for the series. When Manzoor suggested the cameo, Malala was unsure but agreed after seeing the team’s preparations.

    On filming day, Malala enjoyed the experience, from the costume fittings to horse riding with a ladder’s help. She appreciated the detailed costume design, which included a custom dupatta.

    Malala also spoke passionately about global issues, especially the crisis in Gaza, calling for humanitarian aid and peace. She emphasized the importance of shows like “We Are Lady Parts” in connecting people through stories.

    Reflecting on her cameo and the song ‘Malala Made Me Do It,’ Malala expressed pride in its message about education and speaking out. She hopes the new season brings joy to viewers and highlights the importance of humanizing and connecting with others.

    Malala also mentioned her role as an executive producer on the documentary ‘Bread and Roses,’ which focuses on Afghan women fighting for their rights since the fall of Kabul. She hopes the film will raise awareness and support women’s rights in Afghanistan.

  • Maldives to ban Israeli tourists

    Maldives to ban Israeli tourists

    MALE: The Indian Ocean nation of the Maldives will ban Israelis from the luxury tourist hot spot, the office of the president said on Sunday, announcing a national rally in “solidarity with Palestine”.

    The Maldives, a tiny Islamic republic of more than 1,000 strategically located coral islets, is known for its secluded sandy white beaches, shallow turquoise lagoons, and Robinson Crusoe-style getaways.

    President Mohamed Muizzu has “resolved to impose a ban on Israeli passports,” a spokesman for his office said in a statement, without giving details of when the new law would take effect.

    Muizzu also announced a national fundraising campaign called “Maldivians in Solidarity with Palestine”.

    The Maldives had lifted a previous ban on Israeli tourists in the early 1990s and moved to restore relations in 2010. However, normalisation attempts were scuttled following the toppling of President Mohamed Nasheed in February 2012.

    Opposition parties and government allies in the Maldives have been putting pressure on Muizzu to ban Israelis, as a sign of protest against the Gaza attack.

    Official data showed the number of Israelis visiting the Maldives dropped to 528 in the first four months of this year, down 88 percent compared to the corresponding period last year.

    In response to the ban, an Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman urged citizens to avoid travel to the Maldives.

  • Israel pounds Gaza after Biden outlines ceasefire plan

    Israel pounds Gaza after Biden outlines ceasefire plan

    Israeli forces hammered Rafah in southern Gaza with tanks and artillery on Saturday, hours after US President Joe Biden said Israel was offering a new roadmap towards a full ceasefire.

    Shortly after Biden’s announcement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted his country would still pursue the war until it had reached all its aims.

    He reiterated that position on Saturday, saying that “Israel’s conditions for ending the war have not changed: the destruction of Hamas’s military and governing capabilities, the freeing of all hostages and ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel”.

    A permanent ceasefire without those conditions being met was “a non-starter”, he said.

    Hamas, meanwhile, said it “views positively” the plan laid out by Biden.

    In his first major address outlining a possible end to the conflict, the US president said Israel’s three-stage offer would begin with a six-week phase that would see Israeli forces withdraw from all populated areas of Gaza.

    It would also see the “release of a number of hostages, including women, the elderly, the wounded, in exchange for (the) release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners”.

    Israel and the Palestinians would then negotiate during those six weeks for a lasting ceasefire — but the truce would continue while the talks remained underway, Biden said.

    The US leader urged Hamas to accept the Israeli offer. “It’s time for this war to end, for the day after to begin,” he said, in comments echoed by British Foreign Secretary David Cameron.

    Israel insists on war aims

    US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called his counterparts from Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey on Friday to press the deal.

    UN chief Antonio Guterres “strongly hopes” the latest development “will lead to an agreement by the parties for lasting peace”, his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

    German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said the Israeli offer “provides a glimpse of hope and a possible path out of the war’s deadlock”, while EU chief Ursula von der Leyen welcomed a “balanced and realistic” approach to end the bloodshed.

    Saudi Arabia stressed its “support for all efforts aimed at an immediate ceasefire” and the withdrawal of Israeli troops. 

    Indonesia, meanwhile, said it was ready to send “significant peacekeeping forces” as well as medical personnel to Gaza if a ceasefire is agreed.

    But Netanyahu took issue with Biden’s presentation of what was on the table, insisting on Friday the transition from one stage to the next in the proposed roadmap was “conditional” and crafted to allow Israel to maintain its war aims.

    “The prime minister authorised the negotiating team to present an outline for achieving (the return of hostages), while insisting that the war will not end until all of its goals are achieved,” Netanyahu’s office said.

    “The exact outline proposed by Israel, including the conditional transition from stage to stage, allows Israel to maintain these principles.”

    Israel has repeatedly vowed to destroy Hamas since the Palestinian militant group attacked southern Israel on October 7.

    Rafah Massacre

    Israel sent tanks and troops into Rafah in early May, ignoring concerns over the safety of displaced Palestinian civilians sheltering in the city on the Egyptian border.

    On Saturday, residents reported tank fire in the Tal al-Sultan neighbourhood in west Rafah, while witnesses in the east and centre of Rafah described intense artillery shelling.

    “From the early hours of the night until this morning, the aerial and artillery bombardment has not stopped for a single moment”, a resident from west Rafah told AFP on condition of anonymity.

    “There are a number of occupation (Israeli) snipers in high-rise buildings overseeing all areas of Tal al-Sultan… making the situation very dangerous”, the resident added.

    There was also shelling and gunfire from the Israeli army in Gaza City, in the north of the Palestinian territory, according to an AFP reporter.

    Before the Rafah offensive began, the United Nations said up to 1.4 million people were sheltering in the city.

    Since then, one million have fled the area, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, has said.

    The Israeli seizure of the Rafah crossing has further slowed sporadic deliveries of aid for Gaza’s 2.4 million people and effectively shuttered the territory’s main exit point.

    ‘Everything is ashes’

    Israel said last week that aid deliveries had been stepped up.

    But Blinken acknowledged on Friday that the humanitarian situation was “dire” despite US efforts to bring in more assistance.

    The World Food Programme said daily life had become “apocalyptic” in parts of southern Gaza since Israel began its assault on Rafah in early May.

    The genocide in Gaza has killed at least 36,379 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.

    In northern Gaza, witnesses said that after carrying out a three-week operation in the town of Jabalia and its neighbouring refugee camp, troops had ordered residents of nearby Beit Hanun to evacuate ahead of an imminent assault.

    The Israeli army said troops “completed their mission in eastern Jabalia and began preparation for continued operations in the Gaza Strip”.

    Jabalia shopkeeper Belal al-Kahlot said there was nothing left of his store after the Israeli operation. “Everything is ashes.”

    The Israeli military announced the deaths of two soldiers in Gaza, taking to 294 the number of Israeli troops killed since the start of ground operations in late October.

  • Countries vote to give Palestinians more rights at WHO

    Countries vote to give Palestinians more rights at WHO

    The World Health Organization’s top decision-making body voted Friday to grant Palestinians additional rights, echoing a similar decision in May by the United Nations General Assembly.

    Countries gathered for this week’s World Health Assembly, the annual gathering in Geneva of the WHO’s 194 member states, overwhelmingly approved a draft resolution on “aligning the participation of Palestine” in the WHO with its participation in the United Nations.

    A full 101 of the 177 countries with voting rights backed the text, with five opposed.

    The resolution, presented by a group of mainly Arab and Muslim countries along with China, Nicaragua and Venezuela, called for the Palestinians, which already have observer status at the WHO, to be granted virtually all the same rights as full members.

    The vote came after UN members voted in New York in May to grant Palestinians more rights in the global body, after their drive for full membership was blocked by the United States.

    At the WHA in Geneva, Palestinian officials and their backers did not attempt to ask for full membership.

    Several diplomatic sources suggested that was due to concern that a vote for Palestinian membership would trigger an automatic suspension of US funding to the WHO.

    The text approved Friday instead handed the Palestinians, among other things, “the right to be seated among member states… the right to submit proposals and amendments… (and) to be elected as officers in the plenary and the main committees of the Health Assembly”.

    But it noted that “Palestine, in its capacity as an observer state, does not have the right to vote in the Health Assembly or to put forward its candidature to WHO’s organs”.

    Israeli genocide against Palestinians has killed at least 36,224 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the territory’s health ministry.

  • USAID contractor resigns, alleging work on Palestine was censored

    Alexander Smith, a contractor for the US Agency for International Development (USAID), resigned from his private sector position, saying he could no longer perform contract work for the Biden administration after a presentation he was preparing on Gaza’s humanitarian crisis was cancelled.

    Smith claimed that USAID gave him a choice between resigning or dismissal after he attempted to give a presentation on maternal and child mortality among Palestinians, says a report published by The Guardian.

    “I cannot do my job in an environment in which specific people cannot be acknowledged as fully human, or where gender and human rights principles apply to some, but not to others, depending on their race,” Smith wrote in his resignation letter quoted by The Guardian.

    Smith’s resignation adds to a small but growing list of officials working inside or for the US government who have resigned in protest against the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

    On Tuesday, Stacy Gilbert, a career official in the US State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM), told staff she was resigning because she felt the State Department had wrongly concluded that Israel was not preventing the entry of aid into Gaza.

    Earlier this month, Lilly Greenberg Call became the first Jewish-American political official to resign. Call worked in the Department of Interior, but there have been a number of high-profile resignations from officials working on the Middle East and defence.

    Major Harrison Mann tendered his resignation from the Department of Defence Intelligence Agency in May, citing Washington’s support for the war on Gaza.

  • Ariana Grande calls for donations for Palestine after Rafah Massacre

    Ariana Grande calls for donations for Palestine after Rafah Massacre

    American singer Ariana Grande has recently shown support for Palestine by sharing a donation link to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund on her Instagram story.

    She has also signed the #artists4ceasefire call and has been actively supporting Palestinian content on her social media platforms, including Instagram posts that condemn the events in Gaza as genocide.
    Some of her fans were disappointed at by her because they thought she should use her position to draw more attention to the injustices happening place in Palestine.

  • Malala in her cowgirl era for British Vogue; internet reminded of her silence on Palestine

    Malala in her cowgirl era for British Vogue; internet reminded of her silence on Palestine

    Malala is making a special appearance in a British sitcom called ‘We Are Lady Parts’ based on a punk band consisting of Muslim women.

    For a photoshoot with British Vogue, Malala donned a look similar to that of a cowgirl with a shimmery blue outfit and a large hat while sitting on horseback.

    Other cast members were seen standing in front of the horse.

    Netizens were reacting in all ways possible to her pictures but the dominant element is her muffled response and lack of condemnation of Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza.

    Social media users subjected her to criticism as one commented underneath the British Vogue post, “Wow, the priorities Malala has during an ongoing genocide.”

    While another commented, “Proving that modesty fashion can be stylish, trendy, and fun.”

    A user subjected her to severe criticism: “Can officially add actress to her CV, we’ve only been assuming for the past many years”. Someone else commented, “Baby girl is too busy to give a damn about genocide. #AllEyesOnRafah”

    Fashion journalist Amna Isani shared the picture and took a jibe at her by commenting, “Is this what officially losing the plot looks like?”.

    Malala has been receiving ire since October 7 because of her perceived restraint in condemning Israel for the genocide. Even though she has called for a ceasefire in the past, the internet is lambasting her for her silence on the Rafah Massacre carried out by Israeli forces early in the week.

    However, in the interview that she gave to Vogue, Malala did talk about Gaza and specifically the Rafah Massacre. “This is such a difficult time right now, especially with what is happening in Gaza, and especially what we saw in Rafah this week,” she told the magazine, calling the images “heartbreaking.”

    She went on to plead the case for a ceasefire in Gaza, stating: “I want people in Gaza not to be dehumanised. I want people to see those children as humans.”

  • Protestors set fire to Israeli Embassy in Mexico City

    Protestors set fire to Israeli Embassy in Mexico City

    Videos of enraged protestors setting fire to the Israeli embassy in Mexico City have emerged online.

    The protest was a reaction to the massacre carried out by Israel in Rafah where displaced people’s tents were burnt down, leaving at least 45 refugees dead and hundreds injured.

    In the capital of Mexico, Mexico City, about 200 people gathered outside the embassy in a demonstration called “Urgent Action for Rafah”. Protesters covered their faces and threw stones at the police blocking their path to the Israeli Embassy.

    Demonstrators clash with the police in front of the Israeli embassy in Mexico City. [Pedro Pardo/AFP]
    A man with Palestine flags painted on his face attends the pro-Palestinian rally. [Pedro Pardo/AFP]
    Demonstrators shouted slogans during the pro-Palestinian “Urgent action for Rafah” rally. [Pedro Pardo/AFP]
    Protesters tried to break down barriers preventing them from reaching the Israeli mission. [Pedro Pardo/AFP]
    Police officers deployed tear gas and threw back the stones hurled at them by protesters. [Pedro Pardo/AFP]
    About 200 people joined the demonstration. [Pedro Pardo/AFP]
  • Israel supporters, including Piers Morgan, changing stance after Rafah massacre

    Israel supporters, including Piers Morgan, changing stance after Rafah massacre

    Israel’s bombing of refugee tents in Rafah on Sunday night left the world horrified. As videos and images of decapitated children, Palestinians burning alive and bodies reduced to char appeared on social media, a wave of outrage spread across the globe.

    Among those who publicly spoke up were many supporters of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, including British television presenter Piers Morgan, who became a caricature of himself by continuously asking his pro- Palestinian panelists to “condemn Hamas”.

    On Sunday night, he tweeted, “The scenes from Rafah overnight are horrific.
    I’ve defended Israel’s right to defend itself after Oct7, but slaughtering so many innocent people as they cower in a refugee camp is indefensible.
    Stop this now @netanyahu”.

    Over in America, ‘free-speech activist’ Brianna Wu stopped her non-stop support of Israel to quote tweet Morgan’s tweet:
    “I agree with this.

    I said at the beginning that invading Rafah would be a mistake of historic proportions and would make it difficult for people to stand with Israel.

    None of this is going to make anyone safer.”

    As other Israel supporters scrambled to condemn the incident in Rafah, the internet was having none of it. Many reminded Piers of his complicity in the genocide.

    Even Andrew Tate popped up in the replies to simply say “Told you.”