Tag: Solidarity with Palestine

  • 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.

  • On Women’s Day, the world did not forget Palestinian women

    On Women’s Day, the world did not forget Palestinian women

    Palestinian women took center-stage in internet discourse surrounding Women’s Day on Friday with artwork and rich tributes.

    Al-Jazeera wrote about the five most prominent women from Gaza. From doctors to activists, these are some of the women showing bravery amid Israel’s war on Gaza. These women include Bisan the journalist, Dr. Amira Al-Assouli who saved the life of a child from Israeli snipers by risking her own life, Nadina Abdullatif the child activist from Gaza, Deema Alswiti who caught the world’s attention after posting about her life in Gaza and Sara Alsaqqa, the first woman surgeon in Gaza who safely brought a child in the world while stuck in a room during Israeli bombing.

    Instagram digital art-related page Yael Jamina Illustration posted a beautiful art piece in “honour of the heroic women and girls of Palestine”.

    Palestinian-Greek athlete Samia Kallidis posted a heartfelt women’s day message for the women of Gaza and called out the world for the blatant hypocrisy.

    APAN, a Pro-Palestine Account on X, posted detailed profiles of Palestinian activists featuring Hind Khoudary, Ahed Tamimi, and Muna el’Kurd.

    Communist Pastors shared a women’s day poster with the caption, “The Palestinian woman: the guardian of the dream and the shield of the revolution.”

    A netizen shared a poster by award-winning artist Marc Rudin which was published by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in 1980.

    Along with these beautiful art pieces, women all around the world took to roads for peaceful marches in commemoration of Women’s Day and raised slogans in solidarity with the oppressed women of Gaza.