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PI CampaignTo Tackle Racism

Yorkshire County Cricket Club announced that they will be taking no disciplinary action against any of their employees in the wake of an investigation into allegations of racism at the club by former player Azeem Rafiq.

The county released a summary of their independent report back in

September, with chairman Roger Hutton admitting: “There is no question that Azeem Rafiq, during his first spell as a player at YCCC, was the victim of racial harassment.

“He was also subsequently the victim of bullying. On behalf of all at YCCC, I wish to extend my sincere, profound and

unreserved apologies to Azeem and to his family.”

In a statement released, Yorkshire stated that an internal investigation has decided that “there is no conduct or action taken by any of its employees, players or executives that warrants disciplinary action.”

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Civil society organisations, scholars and activists from Malaysia have written to Bristol University threatening to lobby the government to stop sending students there unless it reinstates a professor sacked for criticising Israel and Zionism.

Prof Miller, who was professor of political sociology and a member of the School for Policy Studies, was sacked in September after a concerted campaign by pro-Israel activists to have him removed on spurious allegations of anti-Semitism.

Despite clearing him of the anti-Semitism charges, the university fired him saying his conduct had fallen below the standards expected from its staff.

The letter, organised by the Malaysia Consultative Council of

Islamic Organizations and signed by 20 groups and individuals, says Prof. Miller’s sacking gives rise to serious concerns about the security and intellectual development of Malaysian students in an environment where any criticism of Israel invites repression by the University authorities at the instigation of the Israeli lobby.

“We conclude that the Bristol University is no longer a safe space for Muslim, Arab and Palestinian students, and staff,” states the letter.

The signatories promise to pressure the Malaysian government to consider halting the flow of Malaysian students to Bristol University.

Some 600 Malaysian students are currently enrolled at Bristol University making them the second

largest overseas contingent. They pay millions of pounds in fees annually.

The letter is designed to add to worldwide pressure on the university to reinstate Prof. Miller. Last month a host of civil society organisations in the UK wrote to the university threatening to organise a boycott unless the lecturer is restored to his post.

Mohammed Azmi Abdul Hamid, the President of Malaysia Consultative Council of Islamic Organizations which spearheaded the writing of the letter, said: “It is unthinkable that we should pay this institution hundreds of thousands of pounds just to allow our youngsters to go into such a poisonous environment where they have no security and where their rights are curtailed.”

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Continued from front pageYorkshire added: “None of this

diminishes the importance of the findings or that fact that there is much the club can learn from the report.

At least one Yorkshire player admitted to regularly using the term ‘P**i’ when talking to Azeem Rafiq, according to the report into racism at the club. But he was cleared of wrongdoing on the basis that it was perceived as, what the report says was, friendly, good-natured “banter” between the two players.

The player also admitted to telling other people “don’t talk to him [Rafiq], he’s a P**i”, asking “is that your uncle?” when they saw bearded Asian men and saying “does your dad own those?” in reference to corner shops.

Rafiq, hit back at YCCC statement on Twitter, labelling Yorkshire “embarrassing” and accusing them of protecting their own.

“Wow just when you think this club couldn’t get more embarrassing you find a way,” he wrote. “Thanks for mentioning the people that have provided your PROTECTION & given green light to RACISM Interesting timing again”.

A spokesperson for Rafiq said: “We note the statement released by Yorkshire County Cricket Club, However, we do also note that the club has come to the conclusion that

no employees, players or executives will face disciplinary action.

“This is despite Yorkshire County Cricket Club’s admission that Azeem was the victim of racial harassment and bullying.”

PI had contacted over a dozen individuals who were at YCCC academy level they said they were bullied and racially harassed by the same coaches.

Victim A, who did not want his name to be mentioned in our article told PI “YCCC is as racist as you get, i was at Yorkshire at an academy level and i was racially harassed and bullied because of the colour of my skin and my religion, these are horrible vindictive people, when Azeem came out i applauded him for his bravery, i remember once a coach saying to me and some others that if any more of you lot come it will be an invasion, the constant abuse continued until i had enough and left and also quit the game for good”.

Majority of the victims who we contacted told PI that the Equality and Diversity committee is not fit for purpose as they are just a token sub group who do not support or do anything worthy and Asians who are involved with YCCC have been sold out to the system.

Rafiq previously called for Yorkshire’s chief executive Mark Arthur and director of cricket Martyn

Moxon to step down from their roles, given that both were working at the club during the time he was subjected to “racial harassment”.

A statement issued on Rafiq’s behalf said: “Several of the allegations by Azeem and others relate directly to the conduct of both Moxon and Arthur during their stewardship of the club.

“Both were at Yorkshire throughout Azeem’s second spell and at least part of the first – Moxon from 2007 and Arthur from 2013.

“In August 2018, when Azeem Rafiq raised concerns of racism there was a failure by the Club to follow its own policy or investigate these allegations.

“On a number of occasions prior to 2018 the Club could have done more to make Muslims more welcome within their stadiums and should have dealt better with complaints of racist or antisocial behaviour within those stadiums.

“These are extremely serious admissions. Given these failures happened under the watch of Arthur and Moxon, why are they still employed by the club?”

The ECB, who have been sent Yorkshire’s report in recent days after several month’s delay, are currently reviewing the information.

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Nearly half of all hate crime victims in England and Wales in the year ending March 2021 were Muslims, according to new statistics released by the Home Office.

The overall hate crimes rose by 9 percent as police recorded 124,091 incidents between March 2020 and March 2021, the new data show.

The racially motivated hate crimes were the majority of the overall figures

as they increased by 12 percent to 85,668 offenses.

The number of religious hate crimes was 6,377, with almost half of them targeting Muslims.

“In year ending March 2021, where the perceived religion of the victim was recorded, just under half (45 percent) of religious hate crime offences were targeted against Muslims (2,703 offences),” the Home

Office release said.The second most targeted group

was Jewish people with 22 percent.“In 16 percent of offences, the

targeted religion was not known.”Muslims have been the target

of increasing Islamophobic attacks since the 9/11 terror attacks in the US and 7/7 terror attacks in the UK.

According to the Home Office, hate crimes spiked “in July 2016, following the EU Referendum, July 2017, following the terrorist attacks seen in this year, and in Summer 2020, following the Black Lives Matter protests and far-right counter-protests following the death of George Floyd on 25th May in the United States of America.”

National Police Chiefs’ Council said it was “working with forces to help them understand and improve the service they provide to victims.”

London’s Metropolitan Police recorded the highest number of racially aggravated hate offenses in 2020 with 15,101 incidents with a 7 percent rise from the previous year.

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Britain and Qatar seek to begin a yearly strategic dialogue, with the initial round to be hosted in the UK capital during the opening three months of next year, Doha and London said.

A joint message explained the move demonstrates the significance of the countries’ ties and the scope for boosting these gainfully for both sides, The New Arab’s Arabic-language sister service, Al-Araby

Al-Jadeed, reported.It follows UK Foreign Secretary

Liz Truss’ meeting with her Qatari counterpart, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in the Gulf country’s capital, according to Qatar News Agency.

Al Thani also serves as the Gulf state’s deputy premier.

Holding a yearly strategic dialogue empowers Qatar and the UK worldwide, helping them

UK, Qatar to begin strategic dialogue on environment, peace

deal more effectively with shared challenges like the environment, security and peace efforts, the statement noted.

“Both the State of Qatar and the United Kingdom believe their permanent shared cooperation will serve the interests of both countries and the interests of other global countries when we cooperate to contribute to a better, more just reconstruction after recovering from the pandemic.”

London and Doha will also work tightly together on boosting trade, counter-terrorism, and medical as well as other efforts, including funding for developing countries.

Truss also spoke with Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Qatar’s emir.

It comes as the recently appointed British minister seeks to bring the UK’s financial interests together with its political aspirations and boost its international sway after Brexit.

The creation of various UK TNE Education opportunities in Morocco is a major step in further strengthening the relations between the two countries, as well as elevating the Moroccan Higher Education system, according to the British Council in Morocco.

“Fundamental changes are underway within the Higher Education system to meet the demands of newly emerging industries and to support Morocco’s growing reputation as a gateway between Europe and Africa,” said Tony Reily, the British Council’s Morocco Director.

UK universities’ approach in education is becoming more and more open to diversifying across countries and regions and seizing international opportunities.

Meanwhile, with Morocco’s youth enthusiastically adopting the English language, the North African country is rapidly becoming an important

international education market and a favorable environment for Transnational Education (TNE).

TNE is education delivered in a country other than the country in which the awarding institution is based, with UK Higher Education TNE referring to UK degree programs delivered outside of the UK.

A total of 140 UK universities currently deliver their undergraduate and postgraduate programs overseas through a range of TNE partnerships.

To assess the TNE opportunities and barriers facing UK universities in Morocco, the British Council conducted a study comprising extensive desk-based research, interviews with key stakeholders in Morocco, and online focus groups with students.

The Council’s report, “Understanding TNE opportunities and barriers in Morocco,” was

released last month, and the main findings were presented via webinar.

The report sheds light on the current gradual shift towards English-medium education among young Moroccans, alongside the country’s increasingly international outlook.

According to Moroccan students interviewed for the British Council’s report, the prestige of a UK degree is seen as opening job opportunities for students internationally and providing a competitive edge in the Moroccan labor market.

“Morocco is worthy of greater attention as a potential UK Transnational Education (TNE) market,” said Riley.

During the webinar, Steve Smith, the UK’s International Education Champion, made it clear that Morocco is an important emerging market for UK universities.

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A British envoy held talks with senior members of Afghanistan’s new Taliban government in Kabul, officials said.

Senior civil servant Simon Gass met with deputy prime ministers Abdul Ghani Baradar and Abdul Salam Hanafi, the British foreign office said.

They discussed how Britain could help Afghanistan address a deepening humanitarian crisis,

terrorism and the need for safe passage for those who want to leave the country.

“They also raised the treatment of minorities and the rights of women and girls,” a British government spokesman said.

“The (UK) government continues to do all it can to ensure safe passage for those who wish to leave, and is committed to supporting the people of

Afghanistan.”Abdul Qahar Balkhi, the

Taliban’s foreign ministry spokesman, said the meeting “focused on detailed discussions about reviving diplomatic relations between both countries”.

He added that Afghanistan’s foreign minister wanted Britain to “begin a new chapter of constructive relations”.

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UK envoy holds Kabul talks with Taliban leaders

Migrant dies after falling from dinghy during crossing to UK

A migrant has died after falling from a boat crossing to the UK, the home secretary has said.

An “extensive search” for the man was called off, after two others were rescued.

Priti Patel told a House of Lords committee that the man had died while being questioned on the government’s planned asylum reforms.

“We want to stop people from drowning at sea, there was a loss of life,” she said.

The man is one of several people to die while attempting to reach the UK in the past year, including a 16-year-old boy who was killed by a lorry in Calais and a migrant who drowned after a dinghy sank in August.

Border Force, Coastguard and RNLI vessels were involved in the search, as well as a helicopter and plane, following an incident on Monday afternoon.

Two Somali men were rescued off the coast of Harwich, in Essex, and the search for the third man was called off.

Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said: “Tragically, this is not the first time somebody has gone missing attempting the dangerous journey across the seas to Britain in search of safety.

“The sad reality is that unless this government fundamentally changes its approach by committing to an ambitious expansion of safe routes for those in need of protection, the

lives of ordinary men, women and children will be at risk of being lost in this way.

“Every day, people are forced to flee their home through no fault of their own and we must do more to make the journey safer”.

The home secretary defended the proposals during an evidence session held by the Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee.

She said she wanted to force boats carrying asylum seekers back to France to “save lives” and insisted that planned operations by the Border Force in the English Channel would not cause people to drown.

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has warned that proposals in the Nationality and Borders Bill breach international law and may not work.

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Syria unsafe for any refugee return from host countries - HRW

Human Rights Watch report shed light that Damascus operates a mafia-style intelligence state where returnees face brutality even after signing a “reconciliation” document.

Yasser, a 32-year old man from Syria’s Homs, was one among millions of Syrians, the world’s biggest refugee population, forced to leave their country in the face of a terrible civil war.

He ended up living in Lebanon, a neighbouring country, which has also gone through several civil wars in its history and is now facing its worst economic crisis exacerbated by the pandemic. As the days passed, the Yasser family’s expenses went through the roof like other Lebanese citizens, but life became unbearable when they were exposed to a growing anti-refugee sentiment in Lebanon.

Yasser was stuck between going back to a country, where he could face anything from torture to

extrajudicial killing, and staying in a country, where local population had grown increasingly hostile towards Syrian refugees. Lebanese authorities also pursue an aggressive agenda, pushing them hard to return to Syria.

“We decided to leave because we were living in the [informal] camps in Lebanon in Bar Elias...and [the landlord] wanted rent in dollars. We couldn’t afford this, so we decided to leave. I wanted my kids in school and I wanted to register them [in Syria] and to live in my house again,” Yasser, which is a pseudonym used to hide the true identity of interviewees, told Human Rights Watch (HRW).

Yasser was one of nearly 300,000 returnees, who left their host countries of Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey for Syria between 2016 and 2021, a period in which the conflict has appeared to calm down compared to the previous

Municipal authorities in Germany allowed the call to prayer over loudspeakers for Friday prayers in Cologne, which has a large Muslim community.

The call to prayer, known in Arabic as the Azan or Adhan, will be carried out under a two-year pilot project, according to Anadolu.

The mayor of Cologne, Henriette Reeker, explained that the municipal council made the decision based on requests from the Muslim

community in this regard as part of a two-year pilot project. The call to prayer can be raised through loudspeakers within the scope of certain rules.

“Our Muslim citizens are an integral part of our city. Hearing the call to prayer next to church bells in our city shows that diversity is appreciated in Cologne and that diversity is here,” the Anadolu agency quoted Henriette.

Under the pilot scheme’s rules,

the duration of the call to prayer will not exceed ten-minutes, and the call to prayer through the loudspeaker will not be very loud.

There will be a person responsible for each mosque where the call to prayer is broadcast, to answer questions and assess potential complaints.

It is noteworthy that Germany has more than 900 mosques belonging to the Turkish Islamic Union alone.

Germany’s Cologne government allows Friday azan over loudspeakers

2011-2016 time span. The Yasser family, like other

returnees, thought that their own country could be a better choice than Lebanon. “Of course, the refugee life in Jordan and Lebanon is difficult, particularly in Lebanon. Economic crisis, particularly in Lebanon, is just catastrophic,” says Nadia Hardman, a Beirut-based researcher for HRW, who wrote the rights group’s report.

As a result, people like Yasser wanted to return to Syria while extensive data show that the majority of refugees don’t want to return to Syria because of the Assad regime’s targeting of them, according to Hardman. “They fled the regime in the first place. That regime is still in power,” Hardman tells TRT World.

Despite all political uncertainty and the brutality of a regime, people have wanted to see their old homes, most of which were either destroyed or damaged by the war, reclaim them and live on their land like old times, says Hardman in the report.

The regime has confiscated many homes on the grounds that their owners supported the opposition or the 2011 uprising. According to a 2017 World Bank, 27 percent of Syria’s housing was destroyed by the war. When Yasser returned to Homs in December 2019, he also saw a “ruined” house that had no electricity.

“There was hardly anyone in our town. Our house was totally destroyed. No rooms had survived. We stayed outside, there was nowhere for us to stay inside,” he told HRW researcher Hardman.

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Greece leaving refugees short of food: rights groups

Rights organisations have accused Greek authorities of excluding refugees and asylum seekers from food and cash assistance because of tough policies and poor planning.

“Though practises differ from region to region, it is roughly estimated that 60 percent of people living in camps do not receive food in the mainland,” the twenty-six organisations, including the Greek Council of Refugees and the International Rescue Committee, said in a statement.

“Among those left hungry, 25 percent are women (including pregnant women), single-headed families, 40 percent are children, chronic patients, and patients with special medical and nutritional conditions. In some places, food is

not even provided to those put in quarantine due to Covid-19,” they added.

And over two weeks after the Greek state took over from the UN refugee agency the task of handing out EU cash assistance to asylum seekers in Greek camps, some 36,000 people have not received their support, the organisations said.

“In an attempt to cover this gap, asylum seekers have been receiving portions of food, reportedly of very poor quality and often not fully cooked,” they added.

Responding to the claims, the migration ministry said “all asylum seekers in camps on the islands and mainland have the right to food” and received three meals daily.

But the ministry noted that this

does not include refugees who “must leave” the camps, while migrants whose asylum applications have been rejected “are obliged to leave the country.”

The authorities also insisted there was “no delay” in payouts to camp residents, which will be received at the end of October.

The ministry added that refugees “have the right to work and can apply for allowances for further support” including an EU-funded integration programme.

The exact number of refugees and asylum seekers currently in Greece is unclear.

A planned nationwide census later this month is expected to help clarify the issue, the UN refugee agency’s representative in Greece, Mireille Girard, said last week.

Girard said the latest estimate of refugees and asylum seekers in Greece is around 96,000.

But many asylum seekers are believed to have left the country since the current conservative government took power in 2019, cutting back benefits and axing thousands of hotel rooms used to house them.

In addition, several thousand refugees are believed to have re-applied for asylum in Germany and other EU countries, where job prospects are better than in Greece.

Many other refugees are forced to return to camps after being unable to find work and accommodation in Greece, the groups said.

Qatari Foreign Minister: Normalization with Israel inconsistent with Qatar’s PoliciesQatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani announced Doha’s opposition to normalization with Israeli occupiers.

Normalization of ties with Israel is not consistent with Doha’s policies and as long as occupation continues, one cannot talk about normalization, the minister said, Elnashra reported.

This comes as despite Palestinians’ condemnation, some Arab countries including the UAE and Bahrain signed an agreement last year to normalize ties with the Israeli

regime.Elsewhere in his remarks,

the Qatari minister pointed to developments in Afghanistan, noting that Doha is in contact with the Taliban and Washington to improve the situation.

It is impossible to solve the country’s problems without interacting with the Taliban, he said, adding that Qatar plays a mediatory role here. Doha is after establishment of stability in Afghanistan, Al Thani added.

He also welcomed the recent negotiations between Tehran and Riyadh as a positive step. “Reviving the Iranian nuclear deal [officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action] is in favor of all of us and we support this.”

The minister urged the members of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council to establish ties with Tehran without interfering in the country’s internal affairs.

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In Case YouMissed It‘Solidarity community’ seeks to elevate Georgia’s Muslim heritage

An organization named Solidarity Community is battling to advance the cause of Georgia’s Muslims, and to change public perceptions about a heritage long seen as foreign.

Georgia is an avowedly Christian country, and it often gets forgotten that around ten per cent of its almost four million citizens are Muslim.

While many of the country’s Muslims are ethnic Azeris, there is also a sizeable Georgian Muslim community, particularly in the Autonomous Republic of Adjara on the Black Sea coast in western Georgia.

Indeed, more than 150,000 people – or around 40 per cent of Adjara’s population – practice Islam.

And yet despite the size of the community, Adjarian Muslims have long been marginalized and their religious heritage neglected.

Established earlier this year, Solidarity Community is a youth organization that wants to change that, by supporting Georgia’s Muslim community and promoting tolerance.

“We base our vision and values on human rights; we want to contribute to building an equal and just society,” says Zaza Mikeladze, one of the founders of the Solidarity Community.

“If all segments of society do not

show solidarity with one another, do not recognize each other, then tomorrow, any community can become marginalized and subject to discrimination. This is what we want to avoid.”

As well as advocating for the rights of the Muslim community in Georgia, the organization also conducts research into the religious identity and history of Muslims in Georgia.

“This is important since it is almost impossible to find research about Muslim people in Georgia, or tell their story. There is a lack of information. That which is available is usually based on stereotypes,” adds Mikeladze, a Muslim himself.

Even though the Georgian constitution guarantees freedom of religion, the Orthodox church – to which around 83 per cent of the population belongs – enjoys a privileged position, including tax exemptions.

It also benefits from considerable state funding, around 30 million lari (eight million euros) per year, while the Muslim community receives just 2.5 million lari (700,000 euros) from the public purse.

This has long been considered discriminatory and unconstitutional by many experts and civil activists.

According to political scientist George Sanikidze, “Christianity plays a particularly important role in the Georgian national narrative and Georgian national consciousness, as suggested by the slogan of the 19th-century Georgian national movement, ‘language, homeland, faith [Christianity]’.

The Georgian Orthodox church, in short, remains one of the main pillars of Georgian national identity. Islam meanwhile is perceived by many as foreign, not Georgian.

The current historical narrative taught in public schools, which presents Christianity as a primordial part of Adjara’s history, while associating Islam with the rule of the Ottomans, is something that Solidarity Community is keen to change.

“Georgia’s Muslim heritage is presented as a leftover of enemy rule,” says Zaza Mikeladze.

In Batumi, the capital of Adjara, the city’s only functioning mosque – the Orta Jame mosque (pictured above) – is too small for the city’s Muslim population. Every Friday, many worshippers are forced to pray outside. Despite repeated promises from local and central government to build a new mosque, the problem persists.

Elsewhere in Adjara, Mikeladze says that many other mosques are hidden, and hard to find.

“In Keda,” he says, “there are many wooden mosques, which are part of our cultural heritage. However, they are not included on the web pages of the municipality or on any tourist maps.”

Solidarity Community now wants to puts Adjara’s Muslims, and their heritage, back on the map.e.

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Activists in social media have launched an online campaign to condemn the atrocities of Indian government against Muslims in Kashmir.

Following the killing of two teachers in Kashmir, the Indian army has started a crackdown across the region, arresting hundreds of

people, Aljazeera reported.Now a campaign has been

staged in Twitter using a hashtag in Arabic which translates into “Kashmir is being destroyed”. Activists share the pictures related to the oppressed people of Kashmir.

Activists mainly condemn the widespread crimes of Indian army

against Muslims, organized violence that target Muslims for their identity, and silence of Islamic and Arab countries.

Kashmir has been split between India and Pakistan since their partition in 1947. Both countries claim all of Kashmir and have fought three wars over the territory.

Activists launch online campaign to condemn crimes against Kashmir Muslims


Violence against Muslimsin Assam escalating: report

According to reports, Hindu extremists in India’s Assam are ramping up violence against the Muslim community with the excuse of expelling illegal migrants.

Media sources point to an escalation of violence by Hindu nationalists in Assam against Muslims, Aljazeera reported citing Le Monde.

The violence came under the excuse of expelling those who have been described as illegal Bangladeshi migrants. However, reports indicate that Muslims are being targeted despite the fact that most of them had already proven their Indian citizenship.

Different videos and photos of the violence against Muslims have gone

viral these days. In one of the videos, a person who has been described as a photographer brutally attacks a civilian who had already been shot.

Meanwhile, Indian forces destroyed hundreds of houses in a rural area, killing a child and making thousands of other people homeless.

The French newspaper notes that these attacks against Muslims are intentional, signaling an anti-Muslim policy in India.

India’s ruling Hindu nationalist BJP party has been conducting a long-running campaign against Muslims in Assam, who make up one-third of the population of the northeastern state.

In 2018, the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi stripped millions of Muslims in Assam of Indian citizenship, claiming that they were illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

Forced evictions in the state began on 20 September. Eight hundred families have been forced from their homes on the grounds they were “illegally constructed”.

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Some of the municipalities in the Netherlands have been conducting illegal investigation of mosques and Muslim community institutions through private companies.

Dutch daily NRC reported that at least 10 municipalities in the country have been investigating mosques, imams, mosque association officials, and people active in the community.

According to the report, the municipalities involved in such investigations include Rotterdam, Delft, Almere, Huizen, Leidschendam-Voorburg, Zoetermeer, Veenendaal, and Ede.

The newspaper added that the Utrecht Municipality stopped its investigation due to concerns about privacy and the method of the probe.

The report claimed that the NTA

(Nuance door Training en Advies), a consultancy firm that informs the government on radicalization, was paid by the national coordinator for security and counterterrorism through municipalities.

Around €300,000 ($347,990) has been spent so far on the secret investigations, according to the report.

The NTA employees doing investigations introduced themselves as members of the community or as visitors and met several people without revealing their true identities, the report added.

According to the daily, findings on the backgrounds of imams and administrators, such as where they came from or their schooling, were submitted to the municipalities as

“secret information” by the NTA.According to the report, a

government investigation into radicalization due to Daesh’s role in the Syrian civil war fell short, and the municipalities wanted to gauge this problem with a separate inquiry.

The NRC reported that the municipalities wanted to get more “realistic” results by having mosques in their regions closely monitored.

Citing constitutional law professor Ymre Schuurmans, the daily reported that such investigations were “unlawful” and that the “municipalities cannot do this through private companies.” Also quoting SPIOR, an Islamic umbrella group, the daily reported that the investigation did grave damage to the Muslim community’s trust in the government.

Dutch municipalities ‘unlawfully’ investigating mosques – report

www.pi-media.co.uk I November 2021 WORLD NEWS I 15

Facebook in India selective in filtering hate speech towards Muslims: Report

South Korean food industry is trying to gain a larger share of the market in predominantly Muslim countries by diversifying its lineup of halal foods towards bakeries and coffee shops.

Food and beverage giant SPC Group established a joint venture with an Indonesian company last week to open its first Paris Baguette store in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, next month.

The group is also in talks with the

Malaysian government to set up a local production facility.

Another food producer Dongwon F&B Co. is now on track to acquire halal certification for its canned ‘Kimchi Tuna’ product as a way to make inroads in the Southeast Asian market.

An increasing number of South Korean food companies are targeting Muslim consumers by acquiring or cooperating with alternative meat companies.

With Korean ramen products enjoying explosive popularity thanks to their spicy taste, Shinsegae Food Inc. launched the development of halal stew using alternative meat products.

The primary factor behind the South Korean food companies’ increasing efforts to establish a presence in the Muslim market is the rapid population growth of the market.

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South Korean food industry’s strategyto increase share in Muslim market

Facebook in India has been selective in curbing hate speech, misinformation and inflammatory posts – particularly anti-Muslim content, leaked documents show.

This is according to leaked documents obtained by The Associated Press, even as its own employees cast doubt over the company’s motivations and interests.

From research as recent as March of this year to company memos that date back to 2019, the internal company documents on India highlight Facebook’s constant struggles in quashing abusive content on its platforms in the world’s biggest democracy and the company’s largest growth market.

Communal and religious tensions in India have a history of boiling over on social media and stoking violence.

The so-called Facebook Papers, leaked by whistleblower Frances Haugen, show that the company

has been aware of the problems for years, raising questions over whether it has done enough to address these issues.

Many critics and digital experts say it has failed to do so, especially in cases where members of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are involved.

Across the world, Facebook has become increasingly important in politics, and India is no different.

Modi has been credited for leveraging the platform to his party’s advantage during elections, and reporting from The Wall Street Journal last year cast doubt over whether Facebook was selectively enforcing its policies on hate speech to avoid blowback from the BJP.

Both Modi and Facebook chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg have exuded bonhomie, memorialized by a 2015 image of the two hugging at the Facebook

headquarters.The leaked documents include a

trove of internal company reports on hate speech and misinformation in India. In some cases, much of it was intensified by its own “recommended” feature and algorithms.

But they also include the company staffers’ concerns over the mishandling of these issues and their discontent expressed about the viral “malcontent” on the platform.

According to the documents, Facebook saw India as one of the most “at risk countries” in the world and identified both Hindi and Bengali languages as priorities for “automation on violating hostile speech”. Yet, Facebook did not have enough local language moderators or content-flagging in place to stop misinformation that at times led to real-world violence.

In a statement to the AP, Facebook said it has “invested significantly in technology to find hate speech in various languages, including Hindi and Bengali” which has resulted in a “reduced amount of hate speech that people see by half” in 2021.

“Hate speech against marginalised groups, including Muslims, is on the rise globally. So we are improving enforcement and are committed to updating our policies as hate speech evolves online,” a company spokesperson said.


France planning to shut down seven more Mosques

The Interior Ministry of France announced it plans to close seven more mosques and associations across the country by the year end on the pretext of alleged radicalism.

After closing a mosque in the city of Allonnes for six months, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin claimed that “The sermons propagated in this mosque cultivating hatred toward France.”

He added that seven associations or religious buildings will be “disbanded by the end of the year.”

Underlining that 92 of the 2,500 mosques in the country were closed as a result of the inspections, Darmanin also said that since September 2020, residence permits of 36,000 foreigners have been canceled due to the “threat to the public.”

In the statement made by the Sarthe Governorate on Oct. 25, it was stated that the mosque with a congregation of 300 people in Allonnes was closed for six months on the grounds that it “defended

radical Islam.” The decision was part of the anti-Muslim campaign that has been criticized worldwide by international human rights organizations as well as global leaders, particularly in Muslim-majority countries.

In August, France’s highest constitutional authority approved a controversial law that was introduced by Macron’s La Republique en Marche (LREM) party in October. The bill was passed by the National Assembly despite opposition from French lawmakers and French Muslims.

Anti-Muslim hatred has significantly risen in Europe in recent years. Far-right extremism and xenophobia have fueled Islamaphobia in Western countries, where terrorist attacks by Daesh and al-Qaida as well as a migrant crisis are used as excuses to legitimize those views. France with the largest Muslim minority in Europe, estimated at 5 million or more out of a population of 67 million, took

the helm of Islamophobic efforts to silence members of the minority, who denounced Macron for trying to galvanize far-right citizens to vote for him in 2020 April presidential elections.

Macron’s anti-Muslim rhetoric sparked a wave of anti-Muslim feelings among far-right groups. The number of Islamophobic incidents in France rose sharply last year. According to the National Observatory of Islamophobia, there were 235 attacks on Muslims in France in 2020, up from 154 the previous year, a 53% jump. Most of the attacks took place in the Ile-de-France (greater Paris), Rhones-Alpes and Paca regions of the country. Attacks on mosques jumped 35% in the same year. A global coalition of 25 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) asked the European Commission to investigate France for its state-sponsored support of Islamophobia.

The French bill was criticized worldwide because it targets the Muslim community and imposes restrictions on almost every aspect of their lives.

It allows intervening in mosques and the associations responsible for their administration as well as controlling the finances of associations and NGOs belonging to Muslims. It also restricts the education choices of the Muslim community by preventing families from giving children home education.

The bill also prohibits patients from choosing doctors based on gender for religious or other reasons and makes “secularism education” compulsory for all public officials.

Following last month terrorist attack against a Shia mosque in Kandahar, the Taliban announced that it would adopt measures to strengthen security of these places.

The promise came as the Daesh (ISIL or ISIS) terror attack against Shia Muslims in Kandahar claimed more than 60 lives and injured more than 70 others.

In a recorded video published, Kandahar Police chief – who has

been appointed by the Taliban – claimed that people of the region had asked the new authorities to provide them with weapons so as to safeguard the security of their mosques but failed to provide security.

He said special armed units will be dispatched to maintain security of these areas.

The attack came after a Shia mosque in Kunduz was targeted

with blast which killed more than 100 people and injured two hundred more.

The attacks have drawn strong condemnation from the international community who have urged the Taliban to confront Daesh terrorists in Afghanistan and safeguard security of the Shia minorities in the country.

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Taliban vow to boost security of Afghan Mosques


Palestinian resistance to continue defending Al-Aqsa: Haniyeh

www.pi-media.co.uk I November 2021 FEATURED NEWS I 17


The chairman of the political bureau of the Palestinian Hamas resistance movement underlined continuation of resistance against the Zionist regime.

In a telephone conversation with those living in Jerusalem al-Quds’ Sheikh Jarrah Neighborhood, Ismail Haniyeh said just like defending Gazan and other Palestinians in the ‘Operation al-Quds Sword’ back in May, the resistance movement will continue to defend al-Aqsa and Jerusalem al-Quds until their liberation, Al-Ahed News reported.

“You are not alone. All Palestinians are with you. Resistance is with you,” he said.

He underlined that Hamas will not accept any decision by the Zionist regime’s courts involving eviction of Sheikh Jarrah residents.

Haniyeh added that the Zionist regime is an illegal regime in Palestinian land and the annihilation of occupiers is their certain fate.

The Sheikh Jarrah protests in May coincided with a decision by the Israeli regime to ban gatherings in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan at the Damascus Gate of the Old City of al-Quds, and riots by far-right Jewish groups.

The escalations further intensified

after Israeli forces raided the al-Aqsa Mosque compound – the third-holiest site for Muslims – several times during Ramadan, wounding hundreds of Palestinians.

The raids prompted Palestinian resistance fighters in the Gaza Strip to respond to Israeli acts of aggression, and fire retaliatory rockets into Israeli-occupied territories.

The Israeli army then launched a devastating 11-day offensive on the besieged Palestinian coastal enclave that killed at least 260 Palestinians, including 66 children.

The name ‘Operation Sword of

al-Quds’ was used by the resistance groups based in the Tel Aviv-blockaded Gaza Strip, including Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, to specify their defensive operation against the regime’s latest war on the coastal sliver in May.The operation saw the resistance firing more than 4,000 rockets against the occupied territories, forcing the regime to desperately call for a ceasefire after just 11 days.The operation also sought to exact revenge on Tel Aviv over its weeks-long harassment of Sheikh Jarrah’s Palestinian residents, whom it had served with eviction orders.

Egypt’s president announces end to state of emergencyEgypt’s president announced the lifting of a 4-year-old state of emergency, undoing powers that had given the government sweeping authority to quash protests, detain dissidents and control everyday life in the most populous Arab country.

The proclamation by President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi, coming amid global criticism of Egypt’s human rights abuses, theoretically ends a decree that had been renewed every three months since 2017. But critics called it a superficial change that would not fundamentally alter the repressive system that has prevailed in Egypt for most of the past 40 years.

In a statement posted to his social media accounts last month, el-Sisi said he was not extending the state

of emergency, which technically expired because the country had finally achieved enough “security and stability” to do without it.

“Egypt has become, thanks to its great people and loyal men, an oasis for security and stability in the region,” he said in the statement. “So, I have decided for the first time in years not to extend the state of emergency nationwide.”

Apart from a few months’ respite in the years after its 2011 revolution, when another authoritarian leader, Hosni Mubarak, stepped down amid mass protests, Egypt has been under a state of emergency since the assassination of Mubarak’s predecessor, Anwar Sadat, in 1981, always in the name of maintaining order and safety.

Over that time, the state of emergency has been the government’s broadest tool for crushing dissent, leading critics to accuse the government of using the threat of terrorism to distract from its human rights abuses.

While rights advocates cautiously welcomed the announcement, they warned that ending the state of emergency would not mean braking repression in Egypt, where thousands of dissidents are in detention, the press and social media are tightly controlled by the state, and public criticism and protests are all but nonexistent.

Even without a state of emergency, few expect the government to change the way it does business.

18I SPORT www.pi-media.co.uk I November 2021

Mesut Özil centre launched in Bradford

Footballer Mesut Özil has vowed to ‘promote’ and ‘help’ South Asians in football as he launched a centre in Bradford through video link.

The Football for Peace Mesut Özil Centre was officially launched at the University of Bradford and had a football and life skill sessions at Bradford City AFC’s training ground.

It is thought the initiative is

the first of its kind specifically for the South Asian Community and is welcomed by the Football Association.

The Premier League player said he understands the challenges of being from an ethnic minority background and hopes to provide more opportunities.

“I have always been surprised

why the South Asian Community are only allowed to be fans of the game, why are we not seeing more players or managers breaking into professional football? I want to promote them, give them an opportunity to be successful both on and off the pitch. I myself am from an ethnic diverse background and understand the challenges.’’

Around 7.5% of the UK population is thought to be British Asian, making it the most common ethnic minority in the UK.

However there are currently only 15 players from an Asian background out of the 4000 professionals in the country - just 0.38%.

If the proportion of Asian professionals was reflective of the population, there would be around twenty times as many as there currently are.

The centre has been co-launched by Football for Peace and the Football Association.

The president of the International Federation of Association Football [FIFA] has proposed that Israel jointly bids to host the World Cup in 2030 with the UAE, Israeli media reported.

Swiss-Italian Gianni Infantino revealed that there has been “a lot of talk” in recent months about the possibility of Israel co-hosting the World Cup with the UAE or other Arab states it recently normalised ties with.

Speaking from Israel, where he attended a controversial conference hosted by right-wing daily The Jerusalem Post, Infantino urged Tel Aviv to “have visions, dreams and ambitions” to host the global sporting event.

“We have been speaking a lot in recent months after the UAE and

Israel signed their normalization agreement. So perhaps co-hosting is an option,” he said, according to The Jerusalem Post.

During his visit, Infantino met with Israeli PM Naftali Bennett, who allegedly congratulated him on his first visit to Israel.

Infantino was also scheduled to meet with the president of the Palestine Football Association (PFA), Jibril Rajoub, who cancelled the meeting after learning that the FIFA head had attended the controversial event, which was held at the “Museum of Tolerance” - a campus built over a historic Islamic cemetery in East Jerusalem.

“[The PFA] regrets the decision of FIFA President, Gianni Infantino, to take part in [the event, which was held] at the so-called ‘Museum of

Tolerance’, built over the M’manullah Islamic cemetery, the oldest Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem dating back to the 11th century,” the PFA said in a statement, according to Wafa.

Infantino’s participation was slammed as “a total affront to the values of religious tolerance and peaceful coexistence, both endorsed by the FIFA statutes”, according to the statement.

Israel struck controversial normalisation deals with four Arab states last year.

The US-brokered agreements were met with fierce Palestinian backlash and condemnation from some Arab nations, who slammed the deals as betrayal of the Palestinian cause.

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FIFA head proposal of joint Israel-UAE World Cup bid slammed

www.pi-media.co.uk I November 2021 SPORT I19

The career of Egyptian football player Mohamed Salah will be included in the English language curriculum for the preparatory and secondary school students in the current academic year 2021-2022, announced the Director of the Curriculum Development Center at the Ministry of Education and Technical Education, Nawal Shalaby.

Students will study the life of the Egyptian player – who has become amongst the nation’s most successful figures in football history – and learn

of how he has supported his country, she added.

Shalaby told Al-Watan newspaper that the curricula will cover Salah’s personal life and the qualities that led to his success, and how he serves as a role-model for his nation.

Al-Watan gathered information on how Salah will covered in the curricula:

For the first preparatory grade, the third unit of the English curriculum describes the player as a successful football star in European

Mohamed Salah has been addedto Egypt’s national curriculum

stadiums and elaborates on his physical abilities that led him to football super-stardom.

For the second preparatory in the third unit, he is taught under a topic entitled “He set an example in the well-known and successful personalities”, and describes the various ways he has contributed to his community.

And for the second grade of secondary school, he is taught in the twelfth unit under a topic entitled “Giving the example of a successful hero.”

Salah began his career in the Egyptian League as a player in the Arab Contractors Club, and from there he moved to Europe to play for the Swiss Basel club, before he was presented to Chelsea and rejected.

Salah them left for Fiorentina and then to Rome on loan, before the Giallorossi bought his contract.

He then finally moved to Liverpool, and achieved exceptional success in the English Premier League since his move to Anfield, with a historic deal that made him the most expensive player in the history of Liverpool FC.

A boxing sketch in felt pen by the late Muhammad Ali has sold for more than $425,000 at an auction in New York of his little-known art works, some of which went for many times over estimates.

The sketch, called “Sting Like a Bee,” and drawn on paper in 1978 was the most sought-after work among more than 20 paintings, drawings and sketches by the former heavyweight champion that reflected Ali’s interest in religion, social justice and his own career. It carried a pre-sale estimate of $40,000 to $60,000.

“Ref, he did float like a butterfly and sting like a bee!” reads the speech bubble from a boxer

knocked out by an opponent whose arms are raised in victory. Ali famously used the phrase to describe his boxing style.

Bonhams auctioneers said that 26 art works by Ali sold for a total of $945,524, more than three times the lower end of estimates. “Sting Like A Bee” was bought by a British-based collector of Ali memorabilia, Bonhams said. Other buyers were not identified.

Ali’s passion for art was little known but he liked to sketch as a way of unwinding after a fight or training. Some of the works for sale were traditional nature paintings, while others were more personal cartoon-like sketches.

A 1979 red, white and blue painting on canvas, with the words “I Love You America,” sold for $150,000, while a 1967 sketch in felt pen comparing Islam to Christianity fetched $24,000.

The former world heavyweight champion, who announced his conversion to Islam in 1964 after winning the title for the first time when he went by the name Cassius Clay, died in 2016 at age 74 after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease.

His paintings and drawings came from the collection of Rodney Hilton Brown, who worked with Ali on his art.

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Muhammad Ali sketches sell for hefty prices at NY auction

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