First Full-Time TV Reporter for a major network to wear Hijab in USA

First Full-Time TV Reporter for a major network to wear Hijab in USA

    Thursday, February 15, 2018   No comments

In the heart of Downtown Rock Island, our newest Local 4 News reporter Tahera Rahman is making history and breaking barriers.

It all started years ago after several internships, that's when Tahera figured out TV news was her real passion.

"I didn't have anyone who looked like me on TV, so I never really thought it was a possibility," said Tahera.

After years of rejection from news stations across the nation, Tahera decided to put TV reporting on hold and took a job as a news producer behind the scenes at our Local 4 news station in the Quad Cities.

Tahera's friend and co-worker Rachel Taylor told us, while Tahera was working behind the scenes, she never gave up on her dream.

"She would come in on the weekend and that's her day off but she really wanted this," Taylor said.

Tahera continued to work on her reporting skills during her free time.

"I was like, someday, someone is going to notice the work I'm putting in and give me a chance," Tahera said.

That day came this week.

On Wednesday, Tahera made her on-air debut, breaking barriers in the TV news industry.

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Plans to build a mobile prayer room for Muslim attending the Pyeongchang Winter #Olympics dropped

Plans to build a mobile prayer room for Muslim attending the Pyeongchang Winter #Olympics dropped

    Saturday, February 10, 2018   No comments

Plans to build a mobile prayer room for Muslim visitors to Pyeongchang Winter Olympics have been scrapped after a strong backlash from local religious activists.

Kim Yeong-ju of Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) told Korea Exposé that the government’s top tourist body had originally planned to place a Muslim prayer room near the city hall in Gangneung, the biggest host city of the games.

But the plan had been dropped because of “strong complaints from local people… primarily for religious reasons,” Kim said. The backlash was so severe, he added, that local officials “could no longer do their jobs.”

Last week, KTO acknowledged the lack of facilities for visiting Muslims as a problem and declared its aim to create a “Muslim-friendly Korea.”


This goal came a step closer in early February with the opening of a cafeteria serving certified halal food to Muslim athletes competing at Pyeongchang.

KTO’s plan to provide a mobile Muslim prayer room for the duration of the winter games was a further reflection of its stated goal to expand its reach in the Muslim tourism market.

But not everyone shares this welcoming agenda.

In January, the Pyeongchang Olympics Gangwon Citizens’ Islam Countermeasure Association, a newly-formed civic group, began circulating a Google form titled “Petition against the Installation of a Pyeongchang Winter Olympics Muslim Prayer Room.”

The petition makes various Islamophobic claims, including that the people of Gangwon Province — where Pyeongchang is located — are collectively opposed to Islam, and that South Korea must be wary of the religion in its radical form. As of Feb. 8, it had gathered more than 56,000 online signatures.

In a call with Korea Exposé, Seo Ji-hyun, director of operations at the countermeasure association, said, “People who have lived in Egypt have told us that Muslims don’t need to pray on airplanes. Let the same apply when they’re in South Korea.”

Seo went on to denounce the entire Muslim faith, saying “The nature of Islam is to take over the world. We must ban it from the start.”

Seo claimed that Pyeongchang county was heavily in debt and wanted to use Muslim money to pay it off, but was unable to cite sources to back up this assertion.

Pyeongchang’s local tourist information center confirmed that there would now be no prayer room available for Muslim visitors at the Olympics. A consultant at the games’ official hotline also told Korea Exposé that hotline staff had received no information regarding Muslim prayer rooms in the area.

Such strong reactions to all things Islamic are not unusual in South Korea. In fact, the countermeasure association behind the prayer room petition consists of existing Islamophobic groups led by a single figure named Jeong Hyeong-man.

Jeong’s previous activities have included a press conference simultaneously opposing both halal food and the introduction of a law banning discrimination against homosexual people, and warnings about “the increase of Muslim terrorist bases in Korea” during his tenure as head of civic group Citizens’ Association for a Proper Country.

Such activism has led to the cancellation of various Islam-friendly government projects in South Korea, including the planned construction of a halal complex in the western city of Iksan.

KTO’s decision in Gangwon Province appears to be at odds with the growing nationwide awareness of the need to meet the demands of Muslim tourists.


Cover image: A rendering of KTO’s once-planned Muslim prayer room (Source: KTO)

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Final communiqué of the Syrian National Dialogue Congress (Full Text)

Final communiqué of the Syrian National Dialogue Congress (Full Text)

    Tuesday, January 30, 2018   No comments

[Rough draft, unofficial translation]

We, the participants in the Syrian National Dialogue Congress, representatives of all segments of Syrian society, its political and civil forces, and its ethnic, religious and social groups. We met at the invitation of the friendly Russian Federation in Sochi, with the aim of putting an

end to seven years of suffering. The need to save the country from armed confrontation, social and economic devastation, restore its prestige on the regional and international arenas, and provide basic rights and freedoms for all its citizens, foremost of which is the right to a safe and free life without violence and terrorism. With the objective of political settlement of the challenges facing our country, based on the following principles:

Saudi Arabia has committed numerous violations of international humanitarian law

Saudi Arabia has committed numerous violations of international humanitarian law

    Friday, January 19, 2018   No comments

Saudi Arabia has committed numerous violations of international humanitarian law some of which may amount to war crimes, killing nearly 1,000 civilians and hitting homes, markets, hospitals, schools, and mosques. The coalition carried out six apparently unlawful airstrikes in Yemen between June and September 2017, that killed 33 children among 55 civilian deaths. Human Rights Watch also documented how the Saudi-led coalition repeatedly attacked civilian factories, warehouses, and other protected sites in violation of the laws of war.

Domestically, Saudi authorities continued their arbitrary arrests, trials, and convictions of peaceful dissidents.

Read report here

Fake images in #IranProtests: Iran's karate woman and the boy who's still alive, Bahrain protesters in Tehran, etc

Fake images in #IranProtests: Iran's karate woman and the boy who's still alive, Bahrain protesters in Tehran, etc

    Thursday, January 04, 2018   No comments

Since December 28, 2017, a wave of protests has swept Iran. Citizens have broadcast dozens of videos online showing the demonstrations and the resulting police crackdown. As ever in these kinds of situations, there have also been many fake photos and videos circulating, not only on social media but also mistakenly shared by journalists and in mainstream media across the world. The FRANCE 24 Observers team has done a round-up of some of the most widely shared fake images around the Iranian uprising.

    Original article >>

Media reports: Chinese special forces, Dark Night Tiger, deployed in Syria

Media reports: Chinese special forces, Dark Night Tiger, deployed in Syria

    Friday, December 15, 2017   No comments

Day after the leader of "Islamic Party of Turkestan" in Syria, Sheikh Abdul Haq, threatened China during a military parade showcasing dozens of armored vehicles, multiple reports have revealed that Chinese Ministry of Defense sent China's elite counter-terrorism "Dark Night Tiger" and "Tigers of Siberia" special forces to Syria to fight the group there.

 
These reports indicated that that Chinese troops landed in the port of Tartous on Thursday.

No official comments were issued from the Chinese government thus far, and none is likely to emerge since China is reluctant to present an image of itself deploying troops in far war zones.

Who armed ISIS? A three year study provides some answers

Who armed ISIS? A three year study provides some answers

    Thursday, December 14, 2017   No comments

Supplies of materiel, including advanced light weapons systems the U.S. military, from foreign parties — notably the United States and Saudi Arabia, ended up in the hands of ISIS fighters.

This report is the result of more than three years of field investigation into Islamic State supply chains. It presents an analysis of more than 40,000 items recovered from the group between 2014 and 2017. These items encompass weapons, ammunition, and the traceable components and chemical precursors used by the group to manufacture improvised explosive devices.

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From Saudi Arabia, an ambitious prince is putting Southwest Asia on Edge

From Saudi Arabia, an ambitious prince is putting Southwest Asia on Edge

    Sunday, November 05, 2017   No comments

ISR Comment: Those who doubted that the Arab Spring would ever affect the richest Arab kingdom, Saudi Arabia, should consider the events that involved that country since this current king took over.

 Besides its involvement in wars in Syria and Yemen, the ambitious crown prince is now purging the country from rivals and imposing a crushing authoritarian order. After his father signed a long list of royal decrees, including giving MBS broad powers to arrest and imprison under the pretext of fighting corruption, it has been reported that 11 princess and a number of current and former government officials were arrested. Some in Lebanon believe that their prime minister is one of those placed under detention order. These articles provide some insight.

• Saudi Arabia's Mohammed bin Salman: Reformer and hardliner 
  
• Saudi Arabia carries out major purge, cementing crown prince's power 

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Royal decrees as published by Saudi media:

 

270,000 Flee Myanmar in Two Weeks: UN Migration Agency in Bangladesh Scales Up Emergency Response

270,000 Flee Myanmar in Two Weeks: UN Migration Agency in Bangladesh Scales Up Emergency Response

    Sunday, September 10, 2017   No comments

Bangladesh, - IOM, the UN Migration Agency, today (8/9) confirmed that 270,000 people have fled violence in Myanmar to seek safety in Bangladesh since 25 August.

IOM, which yesterday allocated USD 1 million from its emergency funds to boost the humanitarian response in Cox’s Bazar, is working with the government and partners to scale up its delivery of lifesaving aid to those most in need. Immediate priorities have been identified as shelter, drinking water, food and medical assistance.

The UN Central Emergency Response Fund yesterday also announced a further USD 7 million to help the thousands of destitute people who continue to flood into Bangladesh.

“I came here three days back along with my husband and four children. It took us six days to walk here, and we had very little to eat. I couldn’t bring anything with me. Even the clothes we had with us, we lost on the way. We now desperately need food and shelter. We need materials to cook with and a place to wash. We haven’t been able to get anything yet, except this meal today,” said Najuma Begum, speaking to IOM staff collecting needs data at a food distribution centre near the Kutupalong makeshift settlement.

While Najuma’s family managed to get a ready cooked meal at the food distribution centre, many people have now set up camp in areas which are too far from established support centres to receive help. Most families are living in the open, in the rain, with children and the elderly at particularly high risk of getting sick.

The number of new arrivals has increased considerably in part due to the joint needs assessment carried out on 6 September, when inter-agency teams visited more host community locations. Arrivals identified in previously unvisited host community settings tally 75,000 in 9 locations visited. At the same time, arrival numbers in the previously known makeshift locations also continue to increase, and over 10,000 are staying in Teknaf Municipality area.

An estimated 130,000 of the new arrivals are now living in the registered refugee camps and three makeshift settlements of Kutupalong, Leda and Balukhali. Another estimated 90,000 people are sheltering in host communities, and nearly 50,000 have settled in new spontaneous settlements which are expanding quickly with people still searching for space to make temporary shelters.

Continue reading...

 

 

The Rohingya Genocide

The Rohingya Genocide

    Saturday, September 09, 2017   No comments

Nobel laureate issues heartfelt letter to fellow peace prize winner calling for her to speak up for Rohingya in Myanmar
  
  The Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu has called on Aung San Suu Kyi to end military-led operations against Myanmar’s Rohingya minority that have driven 270,000 refugees from the country in the past fortnight.
 
The 85-year old archbishop said the “unfolding horror” and “ethnic cleansing” in the country’s Rahkine region had forced him to speak out against the woman he admired and considered “a dearly beloved sister”.
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On Tuesday, the United Nations secretary general, Antonio Guterres, said the government clearance operations in Rakhine “risked” ethnic cleansing. A Change.org petition to revoke Aung San Suu Kyi’s Nobel peace prize had reached 377,332 signatures by Friday. source

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Myanmar's security forces have been attacking the Rohingya Muslims and torching their villages since October 2016 in a bid to push them out of the western state of Rakhine.

The attacks have intensified since August 25, following alleged armed attacks on police and military posts in Rakhine.

Prior to that, the Muslims were frequent targets of Buddhist mobs. Tens of thousands of Rohingya were driven from their homes in another wave of violence in 2012.

The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, confirmed Thursday that some 164,000 Rohingya Muslims had fled Myanmar’s Rakhine to seek refuge in camps in Bangladesh since the harsh crackdown against them.

The UNHCR spokeswoman, Vivian Tan, said the figure could go up further as thousands were still crossing the border.

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World's largest stateless community

The Rohingya are the world's largest stateless community and one of its most persecuted minorities.

Using a dialect similar to that spoken in Chittagong in southeast Bangladesh, the Sunni Muslims are loathed by many in majority-Buddhist Myanmar who see them as illegal immigrants and call them "Bengali" - even though many have lived in Myanmar for generations.

They are not officially recognised as an ethnic group, partly due to a 1982 law stipulating that minorities must prove they lived in Myanmar prior to 1823 - before the first Anglo-Burmese war - to obtain nationality.

Most live in the impoverished western state of Rakhine but are denied citizenship and harassed by restrictions on movement and work.

More than half a million also live in Bangladeshi camps, although Dhaka only recognises a small portion as refugees.

Rohingya refugees from Myanmar's Rakhine state set up shelters at a refugee camp at Unchiprang near the Bangladeshi border town of Teknaf. (AFP Photo)

    Over 250,000 refugees enter Bangladesh from Myanmar

Sectarian violence between the Rohingya and local Buddhist communities broke out in 2012, leaving more than 100 dead and the state segregated along religious lines.

Then last October things got much worse.

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Who are the Rohingya?

Described as the world’s most persecuted people, 1.1 million Rohingya people live in Myanmar. They live predominately in Rakhine state, where they have co-existed uneasily alongside Buddhists for decades.

Rohingya people say they are descendants of Muslims, perhaps Persian and Arab traders, who came to Myanmar generations ago. Unlike the Buddhist community, they speak a language similar to the Bengali dialect of Chittagong in Bangladesh.

The Rohingya are reviled by many in Myanmar as illegal immigrants and they suffer from systematic discrimination. The Myanmar government treats them as stateless people, denying them citizenship. Stringent restrictions have been placed on Rohingya people’s freedom of movement, access to medical assistance, education and other basic services.

After centuries in Myanmar, it's estimated that half their population has fled to Bangladesh with horror stories of rapes, killings and house burnings.
 ...


Read also, Who are the Rohingya and why are they fleeing Myanmar?




Desmond Tutu condemns Aung San Suu Kyi: 'Silence is too high a price'