Ireland’s capital of Dublin has been tied to Ramallah in Palestine as part of a “friendship agreement,” the Dublin City Council said on December 7. According to an Anadolu report, it comes following a meeting last December between then-Council Chief Executive Owen Keegan and Palestinian Ambassador to Ireland Jilan Wahba Abdalmajid where they discussed the potential for cooperation between the two cities.
The Dublin City Council said the city has been twinned with Ramallah in Palestine under a “friendship agreement” signed by Dublin Mayor Daithi de Roiste and Ramallah Mayor Issa Kassis.
Ramallah is now the fifth city with which Dublin has a twinning agreement, following San Jose in the US in 1986, Liverpool in 1997, Barcelona in 1998 and Beijing in 2010.
“I very much welcome the signing of this Friendship Agreement between our two cities,” said de Roiste. “The aim of this Friendship Agreement is to contribute to the strengthening of friendly relations between our two cities.”
Areas of possible mutual interest between the two cities include climate action, sustainable transport and active travel, municipal services in particular waste management and smart cities, added the statement.
Muslim donor group shuns Canada PM Trudeau’s govt. over Gaza stance
A group of leading Canadian Muslim donors will no longer raise money for the ruling Liberals because of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s failure to call for a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza war, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp said on December 8.
According to a Reuters report, the group said it was pulling out of the Laurier Club, the upper tier of donors, because Trudeau did not appear interested in international law or the children of Gaza.
“With broken hearts, we must depart the Laurier Club,” CBC cited a letter from the group to the party.
“The idea that this situation will all be forgotten in two years is an extremely risky and unwise strategy for the party.”
The Reuters report added that polls show the left-leaning Liberals trailing their Conservative rivals ahead of the next election, which is scheduled for October 2025.
CBC said the group, set up in 2014, claimed 400 members and had directed hundreds of thousands of dollars to the party.
Trudeau has consistently said Israel has the right to defend itself after the deadly rampage by Hamas in southern Israel on Oct. 7, but as the death toll in its retaliatory action in Gaza has mounted, he has gradually hardened his tone. Last month, he said the “killing of women, of children, of babies” in the Palestinian enclave must stop.
Muslims make up around 5% of Canada’s 40 million population.
Yemen’s Houthi gov’t criminalises recognition of Israel
Yemen’s Houthi-led government on December 5 issued new legislation prohibiting and criminalising recognition of Israel and normalising relations with it, reports Middle East Monitor. According to the SABA news agency, the President of Sanaa-based Supreme Political Council, Mahdi Al-Mashat, signed the new law which aims to prohibit and criminalise recognition and normalisation with the occupation state.
After signing Sanaa law No.(4), Al-Mashat affirmed that normalisation with Israel is a betrayal of the Arab Islamic nation, Islam, and the people. He stated that the law will allow Yemen to move more effectively and officially in “confronting the usurping Zionist entity and supporting the Palestinian people and resistance,” the outlet reported.
Al-Mashat was quoted as saying: “Yemen’s position in supporting the Palestinian people and their valiant resistance cannot be reversed.”
“We will continue to target the Zionist entity in all possible ways until its aggression and genocide of brothers in Gaza stop,” he added.
Last month, the Yemeni House of Representatives in Sanaa voted and passed a law “banning and criminalising recognition of the Israeli occupation entity and normalisation with it.”
The purpose of the drafted law is also to “prevent the establishment of diplomatic, political, military, economic, cultural, or any other direct or indirect relations with the occupation entity.”
Last year, Iraq became the first Arab country to formally ban normalisation with Israel by passing a law criminalising normalisation with the apartheid state. At the time, parliament said it was “a true reflection of the people.”
French lawmaker calls for sanctions on Israel over Gaza war
French MP, Alma Dufour, of La France Insoumise has called on the government to impose sanctions on Israel over its ongoing aggression against the besieged Gaza Strip, in which it has killed over 16,000 Palestinians including over 6,000 children, she explained.
According to Middle East Monitor, Dufour, while speaking at the National Assembly, addressed French Prime Minister Elisabeth Bourne and said: “Madam Minister, the truce has ended, and hell has returned to earth. With 1.9 million Gazans displaced in the south, which was also not free from Israeli bombing.”
“How long will you continue to allow [Israeli Prime Minister] Netanyahu to put the entire Middle East region in danger?” she asked.
She said they had all seen the images of children dying in Gaza, adding that President Emmanuel Macron had called for a ceasefire, however days later his deputy reassured Israel of France’s support for it.
“We must,” she continued, “impose diplomatic and economic sanctions” on Israel.
Denmark’s parliament adopts law banning Quran burnings
Denmark’s parliament on December 7 adopted a law criminalising the “inappropriate treatment” of religious texts, effectively banning Quran burnings after a series of desecrations of Islam’s holy book sparked anger in Muslim countries over the summer, said an AFP report.
The bill, which prohibits “inappropriate treatment of writings with significant religious importance for a recognised religious community”, was passed with 94 votes in favour and 77 opposed in the 179-seat Folketing.
According to the AFP report, Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard said in a statement, “We must protect the security of Denmark and the Danes. Therefore, it is important that we now have better protection against the systematic insults we have seen for a long time.”
In practical terms, it will be forbidden to burn, tear or otherwise defile holy texts publicly or in videos intended to be disseminated widely. Those who break the law, which will be evaluated after three years, risk a fine or up to two years in prison.
Denmark is not the only European country to have banned burnings of the Quran. According to Denmark’s justice ministry, eight European countries – Austria, Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Italy, Poland and Romania – do so to varying degrees. In Greece, for example, the burning of a sacred text can be banned if the act takes place in or near a religious site.
UNESCO recognises Ramadan meal tradition of Iftar
The UN cultural agency recognised Iftar, the meal that breaks the daytime fast during the sacred month of Ramadan, on its list of intangible cultural heritage, said an AFP report on December 6.The application for the sociocultural tradition was jointly submitted by Iran, Türkiye, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan to the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation.
According to the AFP report, UNESCO said, “Iftar (also called Eftari or Iftor) is observed by Muslims at sunset in the month of Ramadan, upon completion of all religious and ceremonial rites.”
Iftar, which follows the sunset call to prayer during Ramadan, is associated with gatherings “strengthening family and community ties and promoting charity, solidarity and social exchange,” it said.The age-old community tradition was recognised by the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage that has been meeting in Botswana since Monday.
In several Muslim countries, it is customary to mark Iftar by eating a date accompanied by water or tea. Recipes for dishes and pastries, however, vary greatly depending on the country.
The UN body said that “the Iftar practice is typically transmitted within families, and children and youth are often entrusted with preparing components of traditional meals”.