Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi goes on a hunger strike while imprisoned in Iran

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi goes on a hunger strike while imprisoned in Iran
A handout photo provided by the Narges Mohammadi Foundation on October 2, 2023 shows an undated, unlocated photo of Iranian rights campaigner Narges Mohammadi. (File/AFP)
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Updated 06 November 2023
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Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi goes on a hunger strike while imprisoned in Iran

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi goes on a hunger strike while imprisoned in Iran
  • Mohammadi, 51, has kept up her activism and has remained a leading light for nationwide, women-led protests

DUBAI: A campaign urging Iran to free Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi said Monday that the activist has begun a hunger strike over the conditions of her imprisonment and the country's requirement that women wear headscarves.
The Free Narges Mohammadi campaign said she “through a message from Evin Prison has informed her family that she started a hunger strike several hours ago.” It said Mohammadi and her lawyer for weeks have sought her transfer to a specialist hospital for heart and lung care.
It did not elaborate on what conditions Mohammadi suffered from, though it described her as receiving an echocardiogram of her heart.
Iranian state media did not immediately acknowledge that Mohammadi had gone on a hunger strike.
Mohammadi, 51, has kept up her activism despite numerous arrests by Iranian authorities and spending years behind bars. She has remained a leading light for nationwide, women-led protests sparked by the death last year of a 22-year-old woman in police custody that have grown into one of the most intense challenges to Iran’s theocratic government.
That woman, Mahsa Amini, had been detained for allegedly not wearing her headscarf, or hijab, to the liking of authorities.


‘Nobody cares about us’: US election doubts in West Bank

‘Nobody cares about us’: US election doubts in West Bank
Updated 48 min 28 sec ago
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‘Nobody cares about us’: US election doubts in West Bank

‘Nobody cares about us’: US election doubts in West Bank
  • There are about 172,000 Palestinian-Americans in the US, according to a 2022 census survey, with many from swing states like Michigan and Pennsylvania

TURMUS AYA, West Bank: As Palestinian American entrepreneur Jamal Zaglul stood by his olive press at the end of the harvest season in the occupied West Bank, his mind was far away from this week’s US election.

Like other US passport holders living in Turmus Aya, where they form the majority, he was skeptical that the ballot would bring change to the region.

“Here we have problems. Nobody (in the US) cares about us,” said the businessman in his 50s.

Violence in the West Bank — occupied by Israel since 1967 — has surged since the Gaza war erupted after militants’ unprecedented Oct.7, 2023 attack on Israel.

Zaglul spoke fondly of former US President Bill Clinton, under whose administration the landmark Oslo Accords were signed, creating arrangements between the Palestinians and Israel.

“This time, we need to start changing. We have to have another party, a separate party, independents,” Zaglul said. “The other ones, they’re not helping us.”

Fellow dual national Basim Sabri planned to vote for a third-party candidate in protest after “eight years of miserable administration.”

The Minnesota-based native of the northern West Bank did not mince words about the current White House occupant, sharply criticizing Joe Biden.

He was equally critical of Biden’s predecessor and current Republican contender, Donald Trump, calling him a “racist.”

Sabri said he would vote for Jill Stein, the perennial Green Party candidate on the ballot in nearly every battleground state this presidential cycle.

Stein ran in 2012 and 2016, securing just 0.4 percent and one percent of the vote, respectively.

Deeply shocked by the Gaza war, Sabri hopes the US will push more for peace.

“It’s the only country in the world that’s vetoing the decision of the majority of the world to stop the war and condemn Israel,” he said.

California resident Odeh Juma, who returns to Turmus Aya several times a year, pointed bitterly to US military support for Israel.

“As Palestinians, we feel our concerns — like ending wars globally, in Palestine or Ukraine — are overlooked in favor of the politicians’ electoral interests,” he said.

Juma planned to watch election night coverage but would not cast a ballot.

“If we don’t vote now, it will highlight the importance of the Arab, Palestinian, and Muslim voices for future elections,” he said.

There are about 172,000 Palestinian-Americans in the US, according to a 2022 census survey, with many from swing states like Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Thousands of Palestinian Americans live in the West Bank, a community shaken by the killings of an American and two dual citizens this year.

Juma’s son Adam said that “people tend to be scared to vote for anybody, especially for Trump.”

He recalled that during Trump’s first presidential run, some hoped he would be “different,” but he dealt numerous blows to Palestinians once elected.

Trump’s administration notably broke with US precedent by declaring it did not see Israeli settlements in the West Bank as illegal.

These settlements are considered illegal under international law.

Adam Juma has been following the election but will not vote, believing the US no longer influences global conflict resolution.

“It won’t change anything if we vote for anybody ... It’s not like how it used to be,” he said.

Ramallah resident Leila said she voted for Stein.

“The ongoing genocide is at the top of my mind, and Harris has done absolutely nothing to win my vote in that regard,” she said.

Sanaa Shalabi, a Palestinian American, also planned to sit out the election.

“Here, no one cares about us... There is an American embassy here, but it does nothing,” she said.

“They do not stand with us. Israel is the one that controls America.”


‘Stop the war’, say Israelis demanding return of Gaza hostages

‘Stop the war’, say Israelis demanding return of Gaza hostages
Updated 03 November 2024
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‘Stop the war’, say Israelis demanding return of Gaza hostages

‘Stop the war’, say Israelis demanding return of Gaza hostages
  • Some at the rally — organized by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum campaign group — brought up the plight of Israel’s soldiers, who are exhausted more than a year into the Gaza war

TEL AVIV: Hundreds of Israeli protesters in Tel Aviv voiced their frustration with the government on Saturday for failing to secure a truce deal to bring the remaining hostages in Gaza home.
Flag-waving demonstrators in the country’s commercial hub held placards with slogans including “Deal now,” “Stop the war” and “We won’t abandon them,” and beat drums and chanted: “Why are they still in Gaza?“
“There have been countless opportunities to end this crisis and each one was torpedoed by the government,” said demonstrator Zahiro Shahar Mor, a 52-year-old bank employee from Tel Aviv.
“The cycle of violence is escalating week after week and we see no end,” added Mor, whose uncle Avraham Munder was killed in captivity in Gaza, and who is campaigning for the release of others’ loved ones.
Critics have questioned why a truce has still not materialized now that Israel has achieved many of its war aims, including last month’s killing of Hamas’s leader Yahya Sinwar.
Israeli and US officials as well as some analysts have said Sinwar was an obstacle to reaching a truce deal in the war between Israel and Hamas.
Ifat Kalderon, a prominent anti-government protester afraid for her cousin still held in Gaza, blamed Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister.
“Each hostage deal they start to talk about, he sabotages. He always blamed Sinwar, but now there is no Sinwar. But every time he finds another reason,” the 50-year-old stylist told AFP.
“It’s a bloody war, we need to stop it. Enough. So many soldiers are dying. And ordinary citizens,” she said, referring to civilians from both sides of the conflict paying with their lives.
The war erupted on October 7, 2023 after Palestinian militants attacked Israel, resulting in 1,206 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed 43,314 people in Gaza, a majority of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry the United Nations considers reliable.
During the October 7 attack, Palestinian militants seized 251 hostages, of whom 97 are still in Gaza. The Israeli military says 34 of them are dead.
Some at the rally — organized by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum campaign group — brought up the plight of Israel’s soldiers, who are exhausted more than a year into the Gaza war.
Others hoped for international intervention, including from the United States, which holds a presidential election on Tuesday.
“I hope whoever wins will be adult enough to take the kids in the Middle East by the ear and force them to the negotiating table,” said protester Mor.
He said he was “disappointed, frustrated and angry” at the lack of a hostage deal but was “keeping the hope for the people who are still alive” in Gaza.
Sinwar’s killing had spurred hope that fresh life could be breathed into months of fruitless negotiations for a truce with hostage and prisoner releases.
The talks have been mediated by the United States, Qatar and Egypt.
A Hamas official said Friday the group received a proposal from Egypt and Qatar for a short-term truce in Gaza but had rejected it.
He said the group had responded by restating its position that “what the Palestinian people want is a complete, comprehensive and lasting ceasefire.”
Protester Simone Spak Safran said she believed the Israeli government “couldn’t care less” about the hostages.
A few “times an agreement was not reached, and not only because of Hamas. I don’t expect anything from this government,” the 77-year-old from Herzliya told AFP.


Turkiye’s president sues opposition chief, Istanbul mayor for alleged slander

Turkiye’s president sues opposition chief, Istanbul mayor for alleged slander
Updated 03 November 2024
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Turkiye’s president sues opposition chief, Istanbul mayor for alleged slander

Turkiye’s president sues opposition chief, Istanbul mayor for alleged slander
  • The charge has been widely used to silence Erdogan’s political rivals, as well as journalists, human rights defenders, and members of the public

ISTANBUL: Turkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has sued the main opposition leader and Istanbul’s mayor for alleged slander in a forceful legal blow against his political rivals.

The two separate lawsuits targeted Ozgur Ozel, head of the Republican People’s Party or CHP, and Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, also a top party official.

The lawsuit reveals that one or both could be prosecuted for insulting the president under Article 299 of the penal code, which carries a maximum four-year prison term.

The charge has been widely used to silence Erdogan’s political rivals, as well as journalists, human rights defenders, and members of the public.

Court documents cited by Anadolou accused Ozel of “publicly insulting the president” and “clearly committing a crime against the reputation and honor of the office of the presidency.”

The second alleged that Imamoglu had made “unfounded accusations, including slander, that violated Erdogan’s rights” and had “acted with the aim of humiliating the president in front of the public.”

Each lawsuit claims 1 million Turkish lira ($30,000) in damages from the accused.

The legal action centers on remarks the pair allegedly made on Thursday at a demonstration in the Istanbul district of Esenyurt after its opposition mayor was arrested for alleged links to the banned Kurdish PKK militant group.

The move against two top opposition figures comes as Turkiye’s strongman is widely believed to be seeking ways to amend the constitution so he can run again in the 2028 presidential race.

It was not immediately clear which remarks prompted the legal action but Ozer, who took over as CHP leader just a year ago, quickly hit back.

Erdogan “pretends to have been insulted without any insult being made, and tries to make himself the victim... as if it was not he who insulted and victimized Esenyurt” by arresting its mayor, he told reporters.

Asked whether he thought the authorities would try and topple Imamoglu as they did with the mayor of Esenyurt, Ozel said it was unclear.

But if they did, the opposition would put up a fight: “We will challenge them,” he vowed.

Imamoglu, elected Istanbul mayor in 2019, is often portrayed as Erdogan’s biggest political rival and is widely expected to run in the 2028 presidential race.

He is seen as one of Turkiye’s most popular politicians.

Two years ago, Imamoglu was sued for defamation after describing Istanbul election officials as “idiots” during the 2019 Istanbul mayoral election.

A court found him guilty of insulting a civil servant and sentenced him to two-and-a-half years in jail, barring him from politics for the duration of the sentence and prompting an international outcry.

Although Imamoglu appealed, the lawsuit meant it was too risky for him to contest the 2023 presidential election.

But he has continued to serve as mayor while the appeal court mulls its decision.

At the time, Erdogan insisted he had nothing to do with the lawsuit.

The 70-year-old Turkish leader launched his political career in the 1990s by being elected mayor of Istanbul.


Egypt hosts Fatah-Hamas post-war Gaza talks as part of ceasefire efforts

Egypt hosts Fatah-Hamas post-war Gaza talks as part of ceasefire efforts
Updated 02 November 2024
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Egypt hosts Fatah-Hamas post-war Gaza talks as part of ceasefire efforts

Egypt hosts Fatah-Hamas post-war Gaza talks as part of ceasefire efforts
  • Hamas is pressing for an end to hostilities
  • Israel rejects any role by Hamas in Gaza after the war is ended

CAIRO: Senior officials of the rival Palestinian groups Fatah and Hamas are meeting in Cairo to discuss forming a committee to manage Gaza’s post-war governance, an Egyptian security source was quoted as saying by Egypt’s Al-Qahera News TV on Saturday.
The talks are part of Egypt’s broader mediation efforts to broker a ceasefire between Israel and militant group Hamas and to expand humanitarian access to the enclave.
Leaders from Hamas and the Fatah faction of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met in Cairo last month to discuss forming the committee based on a proposal put forward by Egypt, but talks were adjourned for later discussion, sources close to the talks told Reuters.
The sources said the committee would be made up of independent Palestinian figures not aligned to a particular movement, addressing the question of who would run Gaza after the year-long war is over.
Israel rejects any role by Hamas in Gaza after the war is ended and has said it does not trust the rival Palestinian Authority of Abbas to run the enclave.
Mediators, including Egypt and Qatar with backing from the United States, have so far failed to secure a truce that would end the Gaza war and facilitate a release of Israeli and foreign hostages held by Hamas, along with thousands of Palestinians detained by Israel.
Hamas is pressing for an end to hostilities while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated that the war will continue until Hamas is dismantled.
Hamas political official Izzat Al-Risheq dismissed proposals of limited or temporary truces as “smokescreens.”
“We are positively open to any proposals or ideas that ensure the cessation of aggression and the withdrawal of occupation forces from Gaza,” Al-Risheq said in a statement.
The conflict continues to exact a heavy humanitarian toll, with medics reporting that five Palestinians were killed in an Israeli air strike on Gaza’s Bureij refugee camp on Saturday.
Palestinian health officials said at least 60 people had been killed by Israeli military strikes across Gaza Strip since Friday.
In the latest round of violence, Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian militant group allied with Hamas, said it launched rockets at Sderot, Mefalsim and other Israeli territory near the Gaza border late on Saturday.
The Israeli military said two projectiles crossed from northern Gaza, landing in an open area but caused no injuries.
The war erupted after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s retaliatory offensives have killed more than 43,000 Palestinians and reduced most of Gaza to rubble.


Strike on Gaza polio vaccine center wounds four children: WHO

Strike on Gaza polio vaccine center wounds four children: WHO
Updated 02 November 2024
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Strike on Gaza polio vaccine center wounds four children: WHO

Strike on Gaza polio vaccine center wounds four children: WHO
  • Organization launched second round of child polio vaccinations in northern Gaza on Saturday

GENEVA: The World Health Organization (WHO) said six people including four children were hurt Saturday in a strike on a polio vaccination center in northern Gaza.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said in a message on X, that the UN agency had received “an extremely concerning report” that the center “was struck today while parents were bringing their children to the life-saving polio vaccination” drive.
Without naming who carried out the strike, he said the Sheikh Radwan primary health care center was “in an area where a humanitarian pause was agreed to allow vaccination to proceed.”
“Six people, including four children, were injured,” he added.
The Israeli military has been pounding northern Gaza in recent weeks as part of its campaign to crush the Hamas militant movement in retaliation for the militants’ attacks against Israel on October 7, 2023.
The WHO launched a needed second round of child polio vaccinations in northern Gaza on Saturday after Israeli bombing halted the drive.
The vaccination drive began on September 1 with a successful first round, after the besieged Palestinian territory confirmed its first case of polio in 25 years.
“A WHO team was at the site just before” Saturday’s strike, Ghebreyesus said.
“This attack, during humanitarian pause, jeopardizes the sanctity of health protection for children and may deter parents from bringing their children for vaccination,” he added.
“These vital humanitarian-area-specific pauses must be absolutely respected,” he said, calling for a ceasefire in the territory.
The WHO says some 119,000 children in the north are awaiting a second dose, while 452,000 have been vaccinated in central and southern Gaza.
Typically spread through sewage and contaminated water, poliovirus is highly infectious.
It can cause deformities and paralysis, and is potentially fatal, mainly affecting children under the age of five.
Hamas’s 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory military campaign has killed 43,314 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry which the UN considers reliable.