ISLAMIC GIVING PLAYS INCREASING ROLE IN HELPING FORCIBLY DISPLACED
Islamic giving plays an increasing role in helping the forcibly displaced people, a UN refugee agency official said on March 24. At the start of Ramadhan, Khaled Khalifa, a senior advisor to the High Commissioner and UNHCR representative to Gulf Cooperation Council Countries, launched the fifth Islamic Philanthropy Annual Report, “which shows the power and growing potential of Islamic giving to save lives and build better futures for the forcibly displaced globally”. According to the report, 6 million people, who have been forcefully displaced and living in 26 countries, have benefited from the Zakat (obligatory almsgiving in Islam) and Sadaqah (voluntary charity) funds since the UNHCR’s Refugee Zakat Fund was piloted in 2017. Through the Refugee Zakat Fund, UNHCR received more than $21.3 million in Zakat contributions last year and more than $16.7 million in Sadaqah donations. “While this is a small proportion of UNHCR’s global expenditure, its importance and impact on the displaced is growing, contributing to progress in several Sustainable Development Goals, notably around ending poverty and hunger while improving education and well-being,” Khalifa said.In 2022, the Refugee Zakat Fund enabled UNHCR to improve the lives of more than 1.5 million people in 21 countries, with Zakat and Sadaqah funds. Last year, Zakat contributions were distributed through Zakat-compliant cash assistance and direct provision of goods.
YEMEN GOVERNMENT, HOUTHIS CONCLUDE PRISONER SWAP DEAL
The Yemeni government and the Houthis have agreed to free 887 detainees and to meet again in May, after 10 days of negotiations in Switzerland, the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Monday, a report said on March 20. The deal adds to optimism for further releases and a final resolution to the conflict, following the resumption of ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia this month. The head of the Yemeni government delegation said about 880 detainees will be freed, while the Houthis said 181 detainees would be freed, including 15 Saudis and three Sudanese, in exchange for 706 prisoners to be freed by the government, according to earlier statements on Twitter by the head of the Houthis’ Prisoner Affairs Committee, Abdul Qader Al-Murtada, and the group’s chief negotiator, Mohammed Abdulsalam. Negotiators had hoped for an “all for all” deal involving all remaining detainees during the 10 days of talks held near the Swiss capital, Bern. The talks were the latest in a series of meetings that led to releases of prisoners in 2022 and 2020 under an UN-mediated deal known as the Stockholm Agreement.
JORDAN SLAMS ISRAEL MINISTER OVER USE OF ‘GREATER ISRAEL’ MAP
Jordan on March 20 condemned the use of a map of Israel by an Israeli Minister which included sovereign Jordanian territory. Far-right Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, addressed an event in Paris on Sunday while standing by a map of “Greater Israel”, portraying Jordan as part of the self-proclaimed Jewish State. In a statement, Jordan’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Sinan Majali, termed Smotrich’s act as a “reckless incitement that is in violation of international norms and the Jordanian-Israeli peace treaty.” Jordan and Israel signed the Wadi Araba peace treaty in 1994, which brought an end to the state of war between the two countries since the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948. Jordan condemns “the racist and extremist inciting statements made by the extremist Israeli Minister against the brotherly Palestinian people, their right to exist, and their historical rights in their independent and sovereign state on the Palestinian national soil,” Majali said.
UK DENIES ENTRY TO DANISH ACTIVIST WHO PLANNED ‘TO BURN QUR’ĀN’
The UK government said it denies entry to the far-right Danish-Swedish political activist Rasmus Paludan, who said he plans to burn the Qur’ān in a public square in the English town of Wakefield last week, a report said on March 20. Wakefield Labour MP Simon Lightwood asked the Home Office Minister for Security Tom Tugendhat if the UK government will prevent Paludan from entering the country during a session in parliament on Monday. “Far-right Islamophobic Danish politician Rasmus Paludan said he’s going to travel from Denmark to Wakefield for the sole purpose of burning a Qur’ān in a public place,” Lightwood said at the House of Commons. “Mr Paludan was previously jailed in Denmark for his hateful and racist statements. He’s a dangerous man that should not be allowed into this country. Can the home secretary assure me and my community that the government is taking action to prevent this?” Lightwood asked. Tugendhat, minister of state for security, said that Paludan would be barred from entering the country.
DAYLIGHT SAVING CONTROVERSY LEAVES LEBANON WITH TWO TIME ZONES
A last minute decision by the Lebanese government to delay the start of daylight saving time by a month, until the end of Ramadan, spread confusion across the country on March 26. The country’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati surprised everyone when he made the last minute decision so that Muslims could break the fast an hour earlier, at around 18:00 instead of 19:00, the time the sun sets.
The move has caused widespread controversy. Many businesses were caught unprepared by the decision and decided not to follow the government and moved their time forward by an hour. The Lebanese Maronite Church has also broken with the government and said that it would move to summer time. Several other major media outlets have also refused to comply with a government decision that has been widely panned for its lack of planning, with some outlets saying in a statement that they would “protest the decision of the [caretaker] prime minister”. On March 23, Lebanon’s government announced the decision to push the start of daylight saving to April 21.
PALESTINIANS EXPECT NEW INTIFADA TO ERUPT
More than half of Palestinians expect a new Intifada to erupt as a result of Israeli military operations in the occupied West Bank, a March 26 report says a new survey has revealed. According to a survey carried out by the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research, 61 per cent of Palestinians expect a new uprising, while 68 per cent support the formation of armed groups, such as the Nablus-based Lions’ Den, who do not take orders from the Palestinian Authority. While 52 per cent said they were worried that the formation of such groups could lead to armed clashes with the PA security services, 52 per cent also said that “the Palestinian people’s interest lies in the collapse or dissolution of the PA”.
A large majority, 70 per cent, said that they believed that “punitive measures” by Israeli forces against Palestinians would lead to more attacks against Israelis.
AZERBAIJAN ACCUSES ARMENIA OF JEOPARDISING PEACE PUSH
Azerbaijan has accused Armenia of trying to “purposefully disrupt the peace process” and endangering regional stability, as tensions grow over Armenian military movements in Karabakh, a report said on March 26. An Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry statement on March 25 said its military has taken “appropriate control measures” near the Lachin road to prevent illegal Armenian activities and “potential provocations.” “The recent provocations by Armenia demonstrate that in order to prevent illegal activities in the sovereign territories of Azerbaijan, it is necessary to establish a border control checkpoint between Azerbaijan and Armenia at the end point of the Lachin road,” the ministry said. It reiterated that Armenia has “intensified” military movements, including transport of personnel, weapons and other equipment, through Azerbaijani territories where Russian peacekeepers are temporarily deployed. Meanwhile, following up on previous meetings with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister NikolPashinyan, European Council President Charles Michel on March 25 expressed concern over ongoing escalation between Azerbaijan and Armenia.