Ismail Haniyeh, a leader of the Palestinian Hamas movement, on 5 September said that Palestinians would “never accept any regional or international plan that seeks to disarm the Palestinian resistance.” Haniyeh’s statement came on the heels of a cease-fire deal that ended 51 days of devastating Israeli bombardments on the Gaza Strip that left more than 2,100 Palestinians dead. The deal, reached through indirect talks between Palestinian and Israeli negotiators, was celebrated by Hamas as a “victory” over Israel, which had – during truce talks in Cairo – initially demanded the disarmament of Palestinian resistance factions.
“Palestinian negotiators in Cairo fought vociferously against Israel’s demand for the disarmament of the resistance,” Haniyeh said during a Friday sermon delivered in the rubble of a mosque in the Al-Shati refugee camp west of Gaza City. “The Palestinians will only accept the disarmament of the resistance on condition that Israel, too, is disarmed,” Haniyeh said. “Gaza has won on both the military and political levels.”
DUTCH ISLAMIC PARTY SEEKS TO PAIR ROTTERDAM WITH GAZA
NIDA, an Islamic political party based in the Dutch city of Rotterdam, is seeking to pair the city with Gaza in a demonstration of solidarity and support. One of two of NIDA’s Rotterdam city council members Nourdin El Ouali was reported as saying, “We really want to reach out to the people in Gaza and support the rebuilding of their city,” shortly after the party organised a pro-Palestine protest in the city, attracting up to 10,000 people – both Muslims and non-Muslims alike.
“During the World War II, the city of Rotterdam was occupied by German forces and bombarded repeatedly until it was fully destroyed. From a historical perspective, we can relate to what the people in Gaza are going through,” said El Ouali, who was part of the aid flotilla that attempted to break the Israeli blockade on Gaza in 2011. “NIDA is right now working on a proposal to accept Gaza as a sister-city of Rotterdam, like many other cities are. This would mean we commit ourselves to supporting the rebuild of Gaza for the upcoming years,” he added.
ISRAEL RAIDS, CLOSES PALESTINIAN AL-AQSA FOUNDATION
Israeli authorities have ordered the closure of a Palestinian NGO devoted to defending Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque from Israeli violations after Israeli forces stormed its office in the northern city of Nazareth and confiscated documents and equipment, according to another Palestinian NGO. “Large forces from Israel’s intelligence and police apparatus stormed the office of the Amarat al-Aqsa Institute in Nazareth and forced employees to leave,” the Aqsa Foundation for Endowment and Heritage – likewise devoted to defending Al-Aqsa – said in a statement. “During the raid, Israeli troops confiscated all equipment and documents before producing an order – signed by Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon – closing the association and banning its activities,” the foundation added.
LIBYA’S ABDULLAH AL-THINNI TO FORM NEW GOVERNMENT
Libya’s elected parliament, the House of Representatives, on 1 September asked Abdullah al-Thinni to form new government. Thinni, a former defence minister and career soldier, has been prime minister since March but his position has been challenged by a rival parliament that refuses to recognise the House of Representatives.
Libya is descending into anarchy as former rebels who helped topple Muammar Gaddafi in a NATO-backed uprising in 2011 have turned their guns on each other, seeking to set the country’s political agenda and control its vast oil reserves.
13 SERB EX-SOLDIERS SUSPECTED OF WAR CRIMES DETAINED
Bosnian police on 1 September detained 13 former Bosnian Serb soldiers and policemen suspected of taking part in the murder and persecution of hundreds of Bosnian Croats and Muslim Bosniaks early in the country’s 1992-95 war. The case was handed over to the Bosnian prosecutors from the Hague-based U.N. war crimes tribunal, which has been relegating cases to the judiciary in ex-Yugoslav countries before it ends its 20-year work at the end of this year.
Among the detained are several top wartime police officers and members of a notorious military group known as “Mice”, suspected of committing the war crimes in the northern towns of Teslic and Doboj, a statement from the prosecutor’s office said. They are charged with the murder of at least 40 Croats and Bosniaks, “persecution, enforced displacement and illegal detention of several hundred people, as well as the robbery and destruction of property of Croat and Bosniak victims in the area”, the statement said.
AFGHAN RIVAL CANDIDATES RENEW PLEDGE TO FORM UNITY GOVT
Afghanistan’s rival presidential candidates on 4 September pledged to NATO leaders that they would form a government of national unity and sign legal agreements allowing foreign troops to stay on next year. The message to a NATO summit from Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah was meant to reassure allies concerned that a lengthy deadlock over the disputed presidential election could force NATO to pull all its troops out of Afghanistan this year.
The rival politicians said they were fully committed to signing two agreements on the status of foreign forces that would allow NATO to stay on and train and advise the Afghan army after its combat operations end in December. The political turmoil created the worst possible backdrop for a summit that heralded the end of more than a decade of inconclusive NATO combat operations.
EX-US PRES. CARTER CALLS FOR PEACE AT ISNA CONVENTION
Former US President Jimmy Carter was the guest of honour at the annual Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) convention in Detroit on 30 August. During his speech about preventing violence against women and girls to a packed audience at the Cobo Centre, Carter said he still had hopes for peace between Jews and Muslims in the Middle East, but insisted that peace would not be realised until there was “justice and human rights for the Palestinians.”
Carter was applauded as he quoted verses from the Qur’ān and the Bible calling for equality between men and women. He accused the Zionist state of working to block moves toward peace made by the Hamas government. He also called for the “partial” lifting of the seven-year-old sanctions and blockade on the Gaza Strip and to allow financial aid to reach the Hamas government so that teachers, police, and welfare and health workers could be paid to ensure “a human standard of living.”
ARMENIA REJECTS REQUEST TO REOPEN 250-YEAR-OLD MOSQUE
Armenia has rejected a request to open up a mosque for the performance of Friday prayers by a Turkey-based non-governmental organisation. The International Association Against Unfounded Armenian Allegations (ASIMDER) had asked for the 250-year-old Gok Mosque, known as Goy Mosque, in the capital Yerevan to be opened for Friday prayers on 5 September.
The request, which was put forward by ASIMDER General Manager Goksel Gulbey with the support of 14 non-governmental organisations, was turned down by the Armenian authorities, despite lobbying attempts made through the Georgian and Iranian embassies. Gulbey expressed his disappointment to Turkey’s Yeni Safak, particularly with the Armenian Church Patriarch of Turkey, Aram Atesyan, for remaining silent over the incident, adding that ASIMDER plans to renew the request.
ATTACK ON ONE IS ATTACK ON ALL: ARAB LEAGUE
Arab foreign ministers have agreed to activate joint defence agreements to combat the menace of extremist groups, including the self-styled ‘Islamic State.’ “The most important outcome of the meeting is the resolution on protecting Arab national security,” Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi told a news conference on 7 September, reading out the communiqué of a meeting that spanned for 10 hours at the pan-Arab body’s Cairo headquarters.
“Arab countries have decided to consider any military aggression on any member states as an attack on all Arab states, and agreed to activate joint defence agreements,” he said. Al-Arabi asserted, however, that the foreign ministers had not taken any military decisions “but the door remains open for that.” He said the top diplomats discussed all threats to Arab national security.