CANADA SCHOOL BOARD ADOPTS ANTI-ISLAMOPHOBIA PROGRAMME
A Toronto-area school board has become the first in Canada to introduce an anti-Islamophobia programme. The Peel District School Board did its homework and found that about one-quarter of its 153,000 students – Kindergarten through Grade 12 in 244 schools – were Muslim. “The launch of the strategy demonstrates the Peel District School Board’s commitment to ensuring that Muslim-identifying students feel affirmed and have a safe and inclusive learning environment,” the board said in an email interview with Anadolu. The Peel board’s initiative received an A+ from the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM). The official record of the motion passed by the board is: “Be it resolved, that Peel District School Board commit to an anti-Islamophobia strategy. That staff report out on its efforts to develop an anti-Islamophobia strategy, specifically provide information on what, if any, actionable items and accountability measures are in place, including plans to regularly provide this information to the broader community. Be it further resolved, that the Peel District School Board mandates anti-Islamophobia training for all staff.”
WORLD UYGHUR CONGRESS NOMINATED FOR NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
The World Uyghur Congress has been nominated by parliamentarians from Canada and Norway for the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize for its contributions to human rights and shedding light on Chinese repression of the Uyghur people in the far western region of Xinjiang. It’s the first time the Germany-based group has been nominated for the prestigious prize, RFA reported. China has faced intensifying international criticism for treatment of the 11 million predominantly Muslim Uyghur people, whose culture, language, religion, dress and food is distinct from those of the Han Chinese majority. The World Uyghur Congress has “made a crucial contribution in drawing international attention to the overwhelming campaign of physical, religious, linguistic, and cultural repression currently being waged by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) against the Uyghur and other Turkic people in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China, a campaign that many parliamentarians define as genocide”, wrote Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, a Canadian member of parliament, in the nomination letter, RFA reported. Brunelle-Duceppe joined fellow Canadian parliamentarian Sameer Zuberi, who is the chair of the Subcommittee on International Human Rights, and Ane Breivik, leader of the Liberal Party of Norway, in nominating WUC.
MOROCCO OPENS FIRST LAB FOR CANNABIS USE IN INDUSTRY, MEDICINE
Morocco on March 6 inaugurated the country’s first laboratory for medical and industrial use of cannabis. In a statement, the Cooperative Bio Cannat said the lab in the north-western city of Chefchaouen will be used to process cannabis in food and pharmaceutical industries. According to the statement, the lab had obtained a permit for the use of cannabis in industry and medicine in October 2022. It said the substance will be used in food, industrial, medical and paramedical industries due to the many scientifically proven benefits in relieving pain. “There will be agricultural experiments with some farmers in Chefchaouen in order to provide raw materials after having provided the seeds intended for this purpose,” it added. Last November, the Interior Ministry said its efforts to tackle illegal cannabis trade had led to an approximately 80 per cent drop in its cultivation. Last year, Moroccan unveiled a plan for the medical and industrial use of cannabis. It has also passed a law to legalise the use of the substance in industry and medicine.
IRAQ STARTS ENFORCING 2016 BAN ON ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES
Iraq has begun enforcing a 2016 ban on alcoholic beverages, an official document showed, a move some Iraqis attribute to the growing clout of Islamic religious parties that they fear is threatening social freedoms, a report said on March 6. Enforcement took effect when the law was published in Iraq’s official gazette on February 20, seven years after its passage by Parliament. No official reason for the delay has been given, but analysts said religious parties exert more influence in the current coalition government than recent predecessors. Under the law, imported alcoholic beverages are prohibited and cannot be sold in local markets, or replaced by domestically manufactured versions. Border crossings and airport authorities have been ordered to confiscate any alcoholic drinks in the possession of travellers, the report added.
LEBANON ARMY FORCES ISRAEL ARMY OUT OF ITS BORDER
The Lebanese army said it forced the Israel army to retreat beyond the country’s border with Israel on March 5. A military statement said an Israeli patrol violated the Blue Line at the village of Aita Al-Shaab in southern Lebanon. The Blue Line is the line set by the United Nations for the withdrawal of the Israeli forces from Lebanon in 2000. The Lebanese army said a military unit intervened and forced the Israeli patrol to retreat beyond the Blue Line. According to the statement, a unit for UN peacekeepers UNIFIL arrived at the scene to verify the Israeli breach. There was no comment from the Israeli army on the Lebanese statement. Meanwhile, South Africa’s parliament has voted in favour of a motion that will downgrade its embassy in Israel into a liaison office, following endless abuses against Palestinians, a report said on March 10. “We’re hoping that this is going to be the first step in putting pressure on Israel to comply with human rights, recognise the rights of the Palestinian people, their right to exist, and also go back to the negotiating table,” the National Freedom Party’s (NFP) Ahmed Munzoor Shaik Emam who introduced the motion reportedly said. The motion was passed by 208 votes against 94.
TÜRKIYE’S ELECTIONS TO BE HELD ON MAY 14
Türkiye’s presidential and parliamentary elections will be held on May 14, the country’s president said on March 10. “With the authority given by Article 116 of our Constitution, I signed the decree for renewing the elections on May 14, which were scheduled to be held on June 18, 2023,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at the presidential complex in the capital Ankara. “Our election agenda will again consist of healing the wounds of the earthquake victims and compensating the economic and social damages of this disaster,” Erdogan added. The Turkish nation will choose not only the president but also all 600 members of parliament on May 14. In 2017, Turkish voters decided through a referendum to switch from a parliamentary system to an executive presidential system of governance. As of 2018, Türkiye did away with the premiership and fully shifted to a presidential system of government.
WORK OPPORTUNITIES FOR PALESTINE REFUGEES IN LEBANON
Commissioner-General of the United Nations Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, on March 10 discussed with Lebanese officials the situation of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and their work opportunities. The two sides addressed the Lebanese National Plan and what Lebanon can offer to Palestinian refugees. In a press release, Lazzarini said: “The [Lebanese] National Plan is a comprehensive mechanism for improving the status of Palestine refugees in the refugee camps.” He added: “The plan reinforces the refugees’ independence and how to afford job opportunities for them to improve their lives.” UNRWA’s new director in Lebanon, Dorothy Klaus, and Caretaker Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati discussed UNRWA’s situation in Lebanon and the need to support it, in addition to the joint support for the strategy of the Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee.