TENS OF THOUSANDS PROTEST GOVERNMENT IN TEL AVIV
Tens of thousands of Israelis took to the streets in central Tel Aviv on January 14 to protest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new far-right coalition government. Police in Tel Aviv said around 80,000 protesters had gathered at and around Habima square. Protests were also taking place in Jerusalem, Haifa and other cities, as centre and left-wing parties, including the Hadash-Taal alliance – a joint list of two Arab-majority political parties – called on Israelis to reject new government policies.
The demonstrations were organised under the call of “saving democracy”, in criticism of some hardline stances the ultra-conservative government has adopted, including planned reforms to the country’s justice system. A main concern of opposition groups is a recently-proposed reform that would allow parliament to override decisions made by the Supreme Court. Analysts have warned that such a programme could potentially allow lawmakers to uphold any annulment of the corruption charges Netanyahu is being tried on. Meanwhile, US Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib has called for stopping unconditional US financial aid to Israel’s apartheid government, especially after the rise of the far right to power.
INDONESIAN PRESIDENT ‘STRONGLY REGRETS’ PAST RIGHTS ABUSES
Indonesian President Joko Widodo has expressed regret for “gross human rights violations” that occurred in his country’s past, including a violent anti-Communist purge in the 1960s and the disappearance of student protesters in the late 1990s. More than half a million people were killed across Indonesia in violence that began in the mid-1960s when then-General Suharto and the military seized power following a failed Communist coup. A million or more people were jailed, suspected of being communists, during the bloody episode in Indonesia’s history, which ushered in the decades-long rule of dictator Suharto. “With a clear mind and a sincere heart, I as the leader of this country, admit that gross human rights violations have happened in several incidents and I regret they happened very much,” Widodo said in a speech at the state palace in the capital Jakarta on January 11. The president, commonly known as Jokowi, cited 11 other incidents, spanning a period between 1965 and 2003 – prior to his tenure as leader – including the shooting deaths and abduction of students during protests in 1998 that brought down Suharto.
GERMAN GOVERNMENT REPORT HIGHLIGHTS ANTI-MUSLIM RACISM
A German government report on January 11 highlighted the problem of anti-Muslim racism in the country. Presenting the report on the state of racism in Germany at a press briefing in Berlin, Reem Alabali-Radovan, the state minister for migration, refugees and integration, stressed it was “important to name and discuss anti-Muslim racism in this status report.” She added the issue of anti-Muslim racism had repeatedly come up during her talks with representatives of the German Muslim community. According to the report, Muslims are after the Sinti and Roma among those minorities to whom Germans have the most negative attitude. The report also pointed to the fact that Muslims have been subjected to hate crimes and daily attacks. In 2021, 732 Islamophobic crimes were recorded, as well as 54 attacks on Muslim institutions and representatives, according to the report. The country has witnessed growing racism and Islamophobia in recent years, fuelled by the propaganda of far-right groups and parties.
CONCERNS OVER US COMMITTEE CHAIR’S ANTI-MUSLIM RHETORIC
Muslim advocacy groups have raised concerns over the appointment of Congressman Mark Green to the chair of the House’s Homeland Security Committee, saying the lawmaker has a history of anti-Muslim rhetoric. Green is a physician, Iraq War veteran and former GOP state senator in Tennessee. Muslim organisations, however, have stated the lawmaker is unfit to serve on the committee, given his previous statements on Muslims and the Islamic faith. “Rep. Green’s well-documented history of hate speech against Muslims, LGBTQ people, and immigrants made him unfit to be Secretary of the Army, and that history makes him unfit to chair the House Homeland Security Committee,” SumayyahWaheed, senior policy counsel at Muslim Advocates, a national civil rights group based in Washington, said.
RIYADH, TEHRAN AGREED ON RESUMING TALKS FOR NORMALISATION
The Iranian foreign minister on January 13 said his country and Saudi Arabia in last December had agreed to hold bilateral talks that would lead to normalisation between them. Hossein Abdollahian’sremarks came during a joint news conference with his Lebanese counterpart Abdallah Bou Habib in Lebanon’s capital Beirut. He said Iran and Saudi Arabia last December reached an understanding on the sidelines of the Baghdad Summit in Jordan to resume bilateral talks for normalisation between the two countries. The Baghdad Summit, which addressed topics to help Iraq restore security and stability, was attended by 12 countries – Jordan, Iraq, France, Türkiye, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman. Following the December 2022 summit, Abdollahian said he had a “friendly conversation” with his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud on the sidelines of the summit in the Jordanian capital Amman, in the first high-level contact between the two sides since 2016.
THOUSANDS OF AFGHANS EVACUATED BY UK STILL REMAIN IN HOTELS
Thousands of Afghan citizens who served Britain in its army and other bodies were evacuated with their families from Afghanistan in what was reported as the biggest British military evacuation in over 70 years. Although the majority of more than 21,000 refugees have now been placed in accommodations, almost half of the evacuees are still stuck in hotels. According to the latest figures provided by the Home Office, 9,242 individuals are placed in 63 hotels across the UK, and “around half” are children. The UK evacuated about 18,000 people, including more than 6,000 British nationals, in the two weeks following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in mid-August 2021. But after the evacuation ended, thousands continued to flee the country and applied for the Afghan Citizen’s Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) or Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP).
Image with caption:Dr. Suleman Lalani (left) and Salman Bhojani (right) are the first Muslim and South Asian lawmakers ever to join the Texas Legislature
2 TEXAS MUSLIMS SWORN INTO OFFICE AS STATE REPRESENTATIVES
Two Texas Muslims have made history. Salman Bhojani – a convenience store cashier-turned-attorney- and business-owner from Euless, Texas, will represent District 92, the Arlington-area in North Texas. Dr. Suleman Lalani, who came to the U.S. with a dream to help people through medicine, will represent District 76 in Ft. Bend County. Both Democratic representatives are Southeast Asian immigrants from Pakistan. While most representatives held one hand up, and placed their other over the Bible, Representatives Bhojani and Lalani each placed one of their hands on a copy of the Qur’ān. Cheers roared from supporters in the watch rooms as the two officially became state representatives. Women wearing hijabs and parents holding their children in their arms were among those in the crowd. Supporters said they’re looking forward to some of their Muslim values, hopefully being more present in the 88th Legislative Session. Their religion is a guiding factor for both men, but they want to be known for their service they plan to dedicate to all Texans.