MORE THAN 300 CHILDREN CONTRACT COVID-19 STRAIN IN IRAQ
Iraq’s health minister, Hassan Al-Tamimi, said that hundreds of children have contracted a new variant of the coronavirus. He warned that the strain could also infect children and the “ferocity” of the strain may burden the ministry’s capabilities to handle the virus. A mutated strain first identified in the United Kingdom is more dangerous and infecting age groups that the original virus did not, Health Ministry of Iraq said. The government declared a two-week partial curfew across the country last week except the Kurdish region to contain a sudden surge in infections. The measures include suspending school attendance, sports activities and the closure of mosques and parks. They also include suspending school attendance, sports activities and the closure of mosques and parks.
LAW BANNING ‘CONVERSION’ PROHIBITS RELIGIOUS HEALING
A deeply-flawed law promoted by Andrews’ Labour Government, Change or Suppression (Conversion) Practices Prohibition Act (CSCPPA), passed in the state of Victoria, Australia criminalises attempts to change/ suppress a person’s gender identity or sexual orientation. It may punish individuals with up to 10-years jail and almost $10,000 fine, or up to $991,320 fines for corporations, which include Islamic schools. The Act criminalises nasiha (advice) to same-sex-attracted (SSA) Muslims to abstain from sex with the same gender, or counselling to abide by traditional gender norms for people experiencing gender dysphoria (boys believing they are girls and vice-versa). The Act is criticised by the Australian Medical Association Victoria, Royal ANZ College of Psychiatrists, and many Christian organisations who, like Muslim leaders, oppose coercive conversion practices.
WOMEN COME TOGETHER TO HELP NEEDY FAMILIES IN LEBANON
Almost 50 Sydney women gathered at Atlantis on the Bay, Brighton Le Sands to help people suffering in Lebanon, motivated by social media influencers and former instructors to donate funds. The speakers included Nora Al Sarray, Safa Al Chami, Asma Chaouk, Tamana Ehsan and Soukina Kassir. It all started when social media influencer and former instructor, known by the name of Juelliet, started receiving pleas for help from families in financial hardship, living in Lebanon and other countries. “I just couldn’t sit there and do nothing about it. I just couldn’t be posting stories of me in cafes while my fellow brothers and sisters were suffering overseas,” Juelliet explains.
FRENCH MOSQUE VANDALISED WITH ISLAMOPHOBIC GRAFFITI
French Muslim organisations strongly condemned vandalism of an under-construction mosque in Strasbourg with Islamophobic graffiti. The words, “No to Islam, go back to your village” were sprayed across the fence on the site of the Eyyub Sultan Mosque, which once completed will be Europe’s largest Muslim place of worship. In a video statement, the Milli Gorus Islamic Confederation (CIMG), the group overseeing construction of the mosque, expressed disappointment at the Islamophobic and racist message. “There is no material damage but the symbolism is strong,” said a tweet from the official handle of the mosque. A 21-year-old man detained by police admitted to have committed the vandalism.
UK GOVT MINISTER’S MEETING WITH MCB SEC GEN WAS NOT OFFICIAL
Prime Minister, Boris Johnson’s official Spokesman told journalists that that the Government Minister, Penny Mordaunt, meeting with Muslim Council of Britain (MCB)’s newly elected Secretary General, Zara Mohammed was not an official meeting. “The meeting was in her capacity as a constituent MP and not as a Government Minister,” said the Spokesman. The meeting was requested by the MCB. They met on Zoom with two officials from the MCB and one official from the Minister. The relevance of the meeting was that the Conservative Party has, since 2009, refused to meet with the MCB and continued its policy even after they came into Government in 2010. To this the Government spokesman said that it was a “longstanding policy since 2009” to boycott the MCB. “It is up to the Government to decide which organisation it does or doesn’t meet with as long as it doesn’t act unlawfully,” he said.
HALF OF THE PALESTINIAN POPULATION NEED HUMANITARIAN HELP
The UN said, in a report, that Palestinian socioeconomic development has suffered one of its worst years since 1994. The report published by the Office of the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO), said that almost half of the Palestinian population requires humanitarian aid, with the protracted humanitarian crisis exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. “The PA [Palestinian Authority] and the Palestinian people have been hit hard in 2020, with more than half the population in need, but I’m hopeful that donors will step up and provide much needed support,” said Special Coordinator Tor Wennesland.
PROTEST IN PARIS OVER ANTI-MUSLIM DRAFT LAW
Protesters gathered in Paris to demonstrate against a proposed law that they said was discriminatory toward Muslims. The crowd gathered in the Trocadero Square against the bill dubbed Charter of Republican Values. President Emmanuel Macron government argues that the bill is needed to protect French values like gender equality and secularism, and to prevent radical ideas from taking root and inspiring violence. But the protesters said France already has legal tools to do this. Last year, the bill was introduced by French President Emmanuel Macron to fight so-called “Islamist separatism.” It is being criticised because it targets the Muslim community and imposes restrictions on almost every aspect of their lives.
UK PM PRAISES ISLAMIC CENTRE FOR DEBUNKING ANTI-VACCINE
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has praised the staff at Al-Hikmah Centre in Batley for their efforts in dispelling myths around Covid-19 vaccines. The Islamic Centre, one of several mosques to turn their premises into pop-up clinics, has been vaccinating about 600 patients a day since it opened. On a visit to the centre on February 1, Johnson said, “Spreading a sense of positivity about the vaccine” was vital. Al-Hikmah Centre, believed to be the first mosque to open as a Covid-19 vaccination centre, started vaccinating people on December 17, 2020. Nadeem Raja, from the Batley-based Indian Muslim Welfare Society, informed that Al-Hikmah “delivered over 17,000 vaccines, including care homes, covering parts of Kirklees.”
TURKEY CALLS GREECE TO STOP PUSHING BACK ASYLUM SEEKERS
Turkey on February 28 called Greece to stop pushing asylum seekers back from their borders. Urging Athens and “all elements involved in push-backs” to end their violations of international and EU law, as well as human rights and a 2016 migration deal between the EU and Turkey, the Foreign Ministry released a statement following two separate incidents on February 23 and 24 when Greek forces assaulted groups of asylum seekers, took their valuables and left them stranded on an island in the middle of the Maritsa River between the two countries. On both occasions, Turkish authorities rescued a total of 51 asylum seekers and migrants – including women and children, said the statement, adding that interviews with them had revealed that some were foreign nationals who came to Greece via Serbia and Bulgaria and were pushed back to Turkey.
TURKEY, AFGHANISTAN TO MARK 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF TIES
Turkey and Afghanistan plan to celebrate their 100th anniversary of diplomatic relations on March 1. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Afghanistan’s Ambassador Amir Ramin will plant saplings “which symbolise the friendship between our countries,” in the garden of the Afghan Embassy in Turkey’s capital Ankara, according to a Foreign Ministry statement. Cavusoglu will then address via video conference a celebratory reception in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul attended by his counterpart Hanif Atmar. Diplomatic relations between Turkey and Afghanistan were established with the signing of the Turkey-Afghanistan Alliance Agreement on March 1, 1921 and the Turkish Embassy in Kabul was the first diplomatic representation to be inaugurated in Afghanistan after it gained independence in 1919.