Month: December 2022

Elnaz Rekabi hit the headlines in October when the sports climber competed in Seoul, South Korea, without wearing a hijab. Amidst the ongoing protests against the oppressive hijab rules in Iran, her bravery to openly defy the regime was applauded by everyone. However, now the family villa of Rekabi has been demolished by the Iranian authorities.

Rekabi was hailed as a hero in Iran for competing without a hijab, even though she later claimed that her hijab had fallen off accidentally and she apologised for it. The apology from her was reportedly a forced one and she was pressurised by the Iran government.

The undated video footage of the demolition obtained by CNN from IranWire showed a demolished structure and medals on the ground. The man filming the video went on to describe what happened to the house. The video then showed Rekabi’s brother, Davood, crying. Davood is himself a decorated sports climber, having won multiple medals in the sport.

Semi-official Tasnim news agency has claimed that the demolition took place before Rekabi competed in South Korea without a hijab. They did confirm that the house has been demolished but said that this was due to the family not having a valid permit for its construction. The family was also fined around $4,700.

Anti-Hijab protests in Iran

The ongoing protests in Iran began after a 22-year-old woman named Mahsa Amini died on September 16 in Tehran. She was arrested and tortured by the ‘Morality Police’ for wearing the hijab inappropriately on September 13, 2022. Iranian media reported that Amini fell into a state of coma and was eventually declared brain dead.

Mahsa Amini succumbed to her injuries on September 16. Following her death, there have been large-scale women-led protests in Iran. Videos of women surfaced where they cut off their hair and burnt hijab as a mark of protest against the enforcement of compulsory hijab for women.

Many celebrities and sportspersons, including the country’s highest-ever goal scorer Ali Daei have been questioned or had their passports confiscated during the course of the protests for speaking in support of the protestors.

https://www.opindia.com/2022/12/iran-family-home-of-sports-climber-competed-hijab-demolished-elnaz/

Unsolicited and undeletable in my WordPress editor ! Translation: “How do you feel about meat consumption?” What does this have to do with the functions of the editor ?

https://medforth.org/kein-witz-great-reset-agitation-ungefragt-im-wordpress-editor/

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is comparable to Britain’s historic rule of Ireland, the chief of the European Commission suggested on Friday.

In a speech before the Irish Parliament in Dublin, the head of the European Union’s unelected Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, likened Ukraine’s struggle to remain independent of Russia to Ireland becoming free from British rule nearly a century ago.

Marking Ireland’s 50th anniversary of joining the European Union, President von der Leyen hailed the country’s “passion for freedom”, saying: “This country knows what it means to struggle for the right to exist.”

“Today, another European nation is fighting for independence. Of course, Ireland is far away from the front line in Ukraine. But you understand better than most why this war matters so much to all of us,” she said per The Telegraph.

“Just like our friends in Eastern Europe, you know that in Ukraine there is more at stake than the future of one country alone. Ukraine is fighting for freedom itself; for self-rule; for the rules-based global order.”

The comments drew swift backlash from London, with MPs objecting to the comparison of the British Empire and Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Former Brexit minister Jacob Rees-Mogg said it was “an extraordinary thing for Ursula von der Leyen to say, undiplomatic, unwise and wrong. It shows she is not entirely aware of the historic circumstances.

“And it shows ignorance of the UK’s relations with Ireland and a tragic failure to understand the depths of the wickedness of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine which has led to the slaughter of innocent people,” he added.

The comments come at a particularly sensitive time given the ongoing dispute between Britain and the European Union over Northern Ireland, which is still an integral part of the United Kingdom.

As a part of the Brexit deal negotiated by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Northern Ireland, often referred to as Ulster, has been effectively cut off from the rest of the United Kingdom by internal trade barriers imposed by the European Union, which has been accused of imposing excessive custom checks compared to other border entry points in order to punish the British for Brexit.

This has led to widespread anger among the pro-British Unionists in the province, with the regional government in limbo and some warning of a potential return to violence.

Conservative think tank the Bruges Group said in response to von der Leyen’s speech: “If the EU wishes to be openly hostile towards the UK, we should be prepared to react accordingly with an uncompromising stance on Northern Ireland.

“There is no point negotiating with an organisation which despises us.”

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2022/12/03/eu-chief-compares-ukraines-fight-against-russia-to-irish-independence-from-britain/

Surya Samachar has reported a case of alleged love jihad from Faridabad in Haryana where a Muslim youth named Javed Khan married a Hindu girl after converting her to Islam. A case in this regard is registered against Javed and 8 others after Dhiraj Kumar Shukla – the father of the girl – filed a complaint at the police station. It is alleged by the complainant that Javed Khan forcefully converted his daughter and married her. The police have started investigating the case.

According to the report by Surya Samachar, Javed’s family members had visited the girl’s home and asked her parents to get their daughter married to Javed. The girl’s parents had, at that time, clearly refused citing different religions. However, Javed’s family members said that they don’t need anyone’s permission. After this, the girl and Javed did a court marriage.

The victim Hindu girl works in the HDFC bank. One day she left for her office but after some time, her father received a phone call from the bank asking why she hasn’t come to work that day. As the father started searching for his daughter, he came to know that she has married Javed after converting to Islam. The complainant also got a notice from the Faridabad court stating that his daughter has filed a plea seeking protection from him after the marriage.

As the complainant reached court and saw the relevant documents, he came to know that his daughter has already converted to Islam and married Javed Khan. The father of the girl has alleged that the prescribed procedure for conversion under the Haryana Prevention of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Bill, 2022, has not been followed in this case.

According to this law, a citizen in Haryana state has to file an application in the SDM office stating that he or she wants to change his religion. After this, there is a specific notice period during which objection can be raised and the family of the applicant is bound to be informed. However, in this case, no such rule was followed and the girl declared her conversion on a simple affidavit.

Apart from Javed Khan, others named in the complaint include Javed’s family members, the people who signed as witnesses during the marriage. The Qazi who solemnized the marriage, and one is the registrar who provided the stamp have also been named in the complaint.

This is reportedly the first case registered under the Haryana Prevention of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Bill, 2022. The parents of the girl said that this is clearly a case of love jihad and they are worried that their daughter will meet the same fate as Shraddha Walkar.

As per the provisions of this law, everyone named in the FIR can be arrested by the police. However, so far police are yet to make the arrests.

Islamic Studies professor at Qatar University, Dr. Shafi Al-Hajri, has attempted to rebut ‘Islamophobic’ critics who say that Islamic proselytization (da’wa/dawah) and expansion is accompanied with mass violence. He clarified that war is only the third and last step in propagating Islam. Speaking with Qatar’s Rayyan TV on November 25, he said that individuals must first be ‘invited’ to Islam. If they refuse the ‘invitation’, they should be ‘asked’ to pay the jizya protection tax. If they refuse to do even that, only then must they be fought.

“Fighting is the third stage of spreading da’wa. First, we call people to Allah, and if they accept, then they will have the same duties and rights as we have. If they refuse (to convert to Islam) then they have to pay the jizya poll tax in order to receive protection from others (Muslims). The third stage is fighting them if they refuse (to pay). Fighting is against those who reject da’wa..those who refuse (to convert to) Islam, or to pay the jizya poll tax,” said Dr. Al-Hajri as per a transcript provided by MEMRI (Middle East Media Research Institute).

A OneIndia report adds,

“Jizya is a tax paid by non-Muslims as a protection tax to the Islamic dispensation ruling the territory. Hindus, it may be recalled were humiliated by the Muslim jizya collectors in India at the time of the Islamic rule. While paying the jizya, the Hindus had to lower their eyes, bow down and even let the Muslim official spit on them.

The failure to pay this tax would render the vow of protection of a non-believer’s property null and void, leaving the protected non-believer or Dhimmi with the option to covert, enslavement, death or incarceration.

Qatar has been under fire for a number of methods being used to convert visitors to Islam during the ongoing 2022 FIFA World Cup. The Katara Cultural Village Mosque in Doha, the capital of Qatar has become a hotspot for the proselytization of the non-Muslims visitors.

At the mosque, multilingual male and female preachers explain Islam and the tolerance (sic) preached by the religion to others. Visitors are also being encouraged to watch electronic boards on Islam which are on display in 30 different languages. Books too are being distributed among visitors which speak about the greatness and importance of Islam.

Qatar’s Ministry of Awaqf and Islamic Affairs has also erected a pavilion outside the venue of the 2022 FIFA World Cup where visitors are being introduced to Islam and its preachings.

Recently it was reported that radical Islamic preacher, Zakir Naik who is wanted for financial frauds and other crimes in India reached Qatar to preach Islam. A video from 2016 too went viral where he is seen converting people to Islam in Qatar.”

Actually, there is another intermediary phase in the da’wa process which the learned Qatari professor overlooked. The Hindus of Kashmir learnt about this in 1989-90 when they were ‘peacefully’ given the options of “Raliv Galiv ya Chaliv” (Convert, Die or Run), with the added ‘generous’ offer of “Batav varaie, Batneiv saan” i.e. Hindu men should leave, but Hindu women should stay.

https://hindupost.in/dharma-religion/fight-only-those-who-refuse-to-accept-islam-or-pay-jizya-qatari-islamic-studies-professor-explains-peace-tolerance-behind-dawa/

Police in Germany believe that the Iranian regime’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) was behind a series of attacks on Jewish targets during November under the direction of a former leader of the Hell’s Angels biker gang.

Shots were fired at the Old Synagogue in Essen, an attempted arson attack was recorded at a synagogue in Dortmund and a Molotov cocktail was hurled at a Jewish school in Bochum. All three cities are located in the state of North-Rhine Westphalia.

Earlier this month, police arrested a 35-year-old German-Iranian man who was allegedly responsible for the attack in Bochum and who attempted to recruit another individual for the attack in Dortmund. According to the ARD broadcaster’s Kontraste program on Thursday night, local police suspect that the man is connected to Ramin Yektaparast, the founder of the Hell’s Angels chapter in the city of Mönchengladbach. Yektaparast is understood to have fled to Iran last year to escape trial for the brutal murder and dismemberment of another member of the gang in 2014, according to German media reports. Six other men went on trial for the killing during the summer.

German investigators believe that Yektaparast, whose dormant Instagram page features both the Iranian and German flags, is affiliated with the IRGC’s operations in Germany. As well as the attacks on Jewish institutions, investigators reportedly discovered a credible plot to target Josef Schuster, the president of the Central Council of German Jews.

“We’re talking about state terrorism here,” one investigator told ARD.

Over the last year, concern has increased globally regarding Iranian-directed terrorist operations abroad. In August, the US Justice Department charged a member of the IRGC with plotting to murder John Bolton, a national security adviser to former President Donald Trump, while in the same month, a man alleged to be an Iranian operative was arrested with a loaded AK-47 rifle outside the home of Masih Alinejad, a prominent critic of the Iranian regime, in Brooklyn, New York.

News of the German discovery coincided with intensified anti-regime protests in Iran itself, where human rights activists said a man, named as Mehran Samak, was shot dead by security forces in the town of Bandar Anzali on Tuesday night amid celebrations of the Iranian national soccer team’s 1-0 loss to the USA at the World Cup in Qatar. Celebrations were also reported in several other Iranian cities; many Iranians are hoping for their own team’s defeat as a protest against the Islamic Republic’s continued rule.

http://www.algemeiner.com/2022/12/01/hells-angels-gang-leader-accused-of-coordinating-attacks-on-jewish-targets-in-germany-on-behalf-of-iranian-regime/

On Friday, a cleric of Kerala’s influential Muslim body ‘Samastha’ voiced his opinion against a vow which was administered to Kudumbashree volunteers stating that Muslim women shall have equal legal rights to their father’s estate. Sunni leader Nasar Faizi Koodathayi, the general secretary of the Samastha Kerala Jam-Iyyathul Qutba committee said that the pledge amounted to a violation of the fundamental rights of Muslims.

According to the reports, Koodathayi who is also the state secretary of Sunni Yujana Sangham opined that the Constitution empowers followers of all religions to practice personal laws on marriage, divorce, property rights, and burial rites. He reiterated that the oath violated the Quran, which states that men are entitled to double as much as women in the share. 

The cleric happened to write a Facebook post on December 2 which read, “Islam declared post-right to women in the property of the father, husband, and son to the world is mythically believed as that woman have no property rights. But in the property of the father, it’s not discrimination to make them half of the man (their brother).”

The Kerala Government is conducting various projects through Kudumbasree from November 25 to December 23, 2022, as a part of the Gender Campaign conducted by the Central Ministry of Rural Development. The leader amid the campaign also added that it is a man who has to bear all the expenses of a woman’s life and that woman is dependent upon a man. “Even if the husband is poor and the wife is rich, it is the husband’s responsibility to bear the expenses of their husband and children. Islam gives women the right to keep whatever they get afterwards without having to bear a single penny at the expense,” he wrote.

The leader also meanwhile said that women being allowed half of what men get from their father’s property cannot be construed as injustice. “Those who criticize the stipulation forget the additional burden on men. The attempt to violate fundamental principles of the Constitution and religion in the name of gender neutrality will certainly invite protests,” he added.

The comments of the leader have come to the fore amid the gender campaign conducted by the Central Rural Development Ministry in the state. Every Kudumbasree as a part of the campaign has been instructed to pledge through gender resource meeting.

The Kudumbashree circular further invites members to vow that they will celebrate the births of both male and female children equally and give equal opportunities in school and work to both. Koodathayi said that such pledges would invite severe protests in the state.

https://www.opindia.com/2022/12/kerala-sunni-leader-nasar-faizi-koodathayi-against-pledge-equal-property-rights-to-women/

A Libyan refugee faces trial in Paris this week after allegedly raping a woman at knifepoint after she hosted him in her home for several weeks.

The trial of Libyan refugee Samir L., said to be in his late thirties, began this week on Thursday at the Paris Assizes court, where he is accused of raping 33-year-old Sabrina C. in her own home.

The rape allegedly took place at the start of last year, several weeks after the French woman had met the refugee at a party and had taken him in after learning he had been living in a squat, Actu reports.

According to the victim, the North African later became violent after an evening of drinking alcohol and came at her with a pair of knives, tried to steal her phone, and then proceeded to beat her and rape her.

Following his arrest, another woman claimed the refugee had sexually assaulted her on public transit as well.

The Libyan rejects the allegations, despite police finding his fingerprints on a knife in the home, and while he admitted he had been drinking he stated that the alleged victim had also been drinking, claiming not to recall the events of the evening.

He told police that the following morning he woke up and saw another man in the home armed with a knife and stated that the alleged victim had problems with drinking and became aggressive after consuming alcohol.

The case is just the latest this year to involve a migrant in France accused of rape.

In March, two illegal immigrants, both also from North Africa, were indicted by a French court for allegedly raping a 20-year-old disabled man in a small village, for example.

In another case, last month, a Congolese migrant with an unenforced deportation order, previously been convicted of rape multiple times in the last 22 years, was arrested again in Rennes for sexually abusing a woman in the lobby of a building after asking for a cigarette.

Just weeks later, another migrant with at least three deportation orders, a 22-year-old from Jordan, was arrested in Paris after allegedly raping a woman in the emergency room of a hospital as she was unconscious.

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2022/12/03/french-woman-who-opened-home-to-refugee-raped-prosecutor/