THOUSANDS PROTEST AT CHINESE EMBASSY IN LONDON FOR UYGHURS
Around 2,500 people protested opposite the Chinese embassy in London on November 13 to demand that the oppression of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, China, comes to an end. A coalition of Muslim organisations united under the banner, Stand 4 Uyghurs to call two protests in Manchester and London. The London event heard chants of, “We will not be silenced,” as people flooded the streets. Protester and Stand 4 Uyghurs volunteer, Aisha reportedly said, “People need to know what’s happening – forced labour, kidnapping, murder, rape. Because people aren’t aware of these abuses, it allows the Chinese state to get away with it.” There are about 12 million mostly Muslim Uyghurs, living in Xinjiang in west China.
UN ALARMED AT RISE IN JEWISH SETTLER VIOLENCE
UN human rights experts expressed alarm at the rising rate of violence toward Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territory by Israeli settlers. “Settler violence has always been an extremely disturbing feature of the Israeli occupation,” they said in a statement. “But in 2021, we are witnessing the highest recorded levels of violence in recent years and more severe incidents…. The Israeli Government and its military have done far too little to curb this violence and to protect the Palestinians under siege,” they said. Michael Lynk, Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian Territory that has been occupied since 1967, Jelena Aparac Rapporteur for the Working Group on the use of mercenaries, and other experts said in several cases, Israeli security forces and outsourced private security companies stand by and take no action to prevent violence.
MUSLIM CHARITIES AT FOREFRONT IN HELPING POOR IN ZIMBABWE
Even as Muslims represent just 0.7% of Zimbabwe’s population, they are said to be at the forefront of voluntary activities such as donating money for charities and helping the homeless orphans. Many Muslims do not run any organised charity groups, but have been helping the people in individual capacities. For example, Zarita Mahomed from Islamic Women’s Initiative Network (IWIN) informed that they were currently supporting more than 114 such women. “We have helped build homes, reticulate the area, sunk a few boreholes, built a Masjid and we have a running soup kitchen while we aim to build a clinic which should be running by early next year in partnership with the Islamic Medical Association of Zimbabwe,” she said.
CRYPTO CURRENCY IS FORBIDDEN, SAYS INDONESIAN ULEMA COUNCIL
Indonesia’s National Religious Council said that as Cryptocurrencies don’t follow Shari’ah tenets, they should not be used by Muslims. Asrorun Niam Sholeh, head of fatwa, or religious decrees, at the Indonesian Ulema Council said that the online currency has elements of uncertainty, wagering, and harm and therefore goes against the central tenets of Islamic law. The national Ulema Council decides on Shari’ah compliance in Indonesia, and it is often consulted by the country’s finance ministry and central bank on Islamic financing issues. As a fatwa, this decree is in the nature of expert opinion and it does not ban the trading currency, as such, in Indonesia. However, it will have far-reaching implications as scores of Muslims would not feel comfortable in such trading.
HIGH COURT TO HEAR SECRETS CASE OVER MUSLIM SURVEILLANCE
The High Court in Washington is preparing to hear a case about the government’s ability to get lawsuits thrown out of court by claiming they would reveal secrets that threaten national security. The case before the high court involves a group of Muslim men from Southern California. They filed a class-action lawsuit, claiming that the FBI spied on them and hundreds of others in a surveillance operation following 9/11. The group, represented by lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union and others, claimed religious discrimination and violations of other rights, saying they were spied on solely because of their faith. A lower court dismissed almost all their claims after the government said allowing the case to go forward could reveal “state secrets” – whom the government was investigating and why. But an appeals court reversed that decision.
KAZAKHSTAN TO HOST 60TH WBC CONVENTION
The World Boxing Council officially announced to hold the 60th anniversary Convention in Kazakhstan. Such a decision was announced at the 59th WBC Convention took place in Cancún, Mexico. “Unfortunately our team was unable to attend the 59th WBC convention due to the new US quarantine measures. But our team participated online and defended their project to provide the 60th WBC convention in Kazakhstan. And we are happy to announce that we did it! We officially announce that next year the 60th Anniversary of WBC Convention will be held in Kazakhstan! We would like to congratulate our supporters, friends and fans, this is a victory for our country, it is a great honour for us to hold an event of this scale!,” said Suleimen Promotions.
KAZAKHSTAN TO KEEP INTERNATIONAL DISPUTES AT BAY
President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev asserted that Kazakhstan will not allow to be drawn into international disputes. He talked about the country’s cooperation with leading world powers. Tokayev took part in an expanded meeting of the collegium of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, where he drew the participants’ attention to a number of issues. One of them is equal and mutually beneficial cooperation with the leading world powers and influential states of the region. He said, we are pursuing a balanced foreign policy based on pragmatism.”