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Middle East

UK Minister of State, Lord Tariq Ahmad visits Israel

Lord Tariq Ahmad, Britain’s Minister of State for the Commonwealth has just completed his first official visit to Israel and Palestinian Territories. During his visit to Israel, Lord Ahmad attend the State Opening Ceremony for Holocaust Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Day at Yad Vashem. He also met with Israeli ministers Tzachi Hanegbi and Ayelet Shaked and reassured them of “UK’s commitment to our bilateral relationship with Israel”. Lord Ahmad, also met with Rami Hamdallah, Prime Minister of the Palestinian National …

Saudi crown prince says Israelis have right to their own land

Saudi Arabia’s crown prince said Israelis are entitled to live peacefully on their own land in an interview published on Monday in U.S. magazine The Atlantic, another public sign of ties between Riyadh and Tel Aviv appearing to grow closer. Asked if he believes the Jewish people have a right to a nation-state in at least part of their ancestral homeland, Mohammed bin Salman was quoted as saying: “I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have …

Sami Odeh – The singer from Haifa making waves in the Arab world

Arab-Israeli singer Sami Odeh is quickly becoming a rising star in the Middle East. 24-year-old Sami who grew up in the small neighborhood of Kababir, Haifa has already caught the attention of millions with his music and covers of popular Arabic songs which he regularly posts on his Instagram. His recent song ‘Qet3a Minne‘ which was released in January has already amassed over a million views on YouTube and is gaining popularity on Anghami, the Arab equivalent of Spotify. This …

Meet the Diaspora Yazidis Fighting for Their People

ISIS’s onslaught against Yazidis has raged on for three and a half years. The rapes, beheadings, and shootings of Yazidis in Iraqi Kurdistan have been documented in front of the world. But Yazidis living abroad are giving their people a voice. Rabwah Times spoke with three prominent Yazidis, including an athlete, artist, and an NGO worker about how they have used their profession to give Yazidis hope. Yurki Mamadov Yurik Mamadov, 27, is a professional boxer of Yazidi origin raised …

Elderly Pakistani couple trapped in Syria urge Pakistan to rescue them

A Pakistani couple trapped in Syria’s besieged Eastern Ghouta district has called on the Pakistani government to facilitate their rescue from the war-torn country. A video posted by Syria’s Thiqa news agency showed the couple living under grueling circumstances. Mahmoud Fadel Ikram, 72, and his 62-year-old wife, Sekral Bibi, moved to Syria in 1975 in search of employment and settled in the Eastern Ghouta district’s Jobar neighborhood. The couple now finds themselves trapped in the on-going war between Government and …

Algeria’s Ahmadis forced to worship behind closed doors

Algiers – Accused of heresy by Islamist extremists and targeted by the authorities, members of Algeria’s tiny Ahmadi community say they have been forced to go underground to worship. Abderahmane, a 42-year-old trader from Kabylie in northern Algeria, joined the reformist Islamic movement after years as an ultra-conservative Salafist. People he once called friends reported him to the local imam, who publicly denounced him as an unbeliever. The imam went on to urge worshippers not to let their children play …

Lebanon Abolishes a Law that Allowed Rapists to Escape Conviction

    The Lebanese Parliament has abolished Article 522 that allowed rapists to escape conviction in the event of them marrying their victims. This Lebanese Penal Code had also been labeled the “Rape law”.     Article 522: If a valid contract of marriage is made between the perpetrator of any of the offenses mentioned in this section, and the victim, the prosecution is suspended. If judgment was already passed, the implementation of the punishment is suspended.   the resolution comes as the …

The Former Hamas member who now preaches Peace

Sheikh Muhammad Jaber planned an attack on Israeli soldiers but was arrested and spent several years in prison. Today he openly walks around in Hamas stronghold of Hebron, calling for peace with Israel and preaches against violence. If Sheikh Muhammad Jaber of Hebron was ever asked what he thought of the Jews, he would simply have said, “You have to kill and slaughter them.” In the 1980s, when he was affiliated with he planned an attack against Israeli soldiers in …

Opinion: The Crazy Fanatics.

Crazies. Everybody’s got them—from religions to nationalities to political parties. Every social unit in humanity has its share of fanatics. Unfortunately, we Muslims have them in droves, and in recent years their fanatical, narrow-minded view of what defines a religion has moved to the driver’s seat and become the mainstream in Islam. Indeed, it seems that it’s becoming a rare site to see a religious person who is not a crazy lunatic. For many, matters of religion have gotten so …

Ahmadiyya leader welcomes Indian PM Modi to Israel along with Israeli PM Netanyahu

As Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Israel on Tuesday, He was greeted by the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu along with representatives of various communities including the Ahmadiyya. The welcoming party at Tel Aviv airport was made up of various leaders from all over Israel, which included representatives of the Druze, Bahais and the Ahmadiyya. The President of the Israeli chapter of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Muhammad Sharif Odeh greeted the Indian PM alongside Israeli PM Netanyahu and …

Israel appoints its first female Muslim diplomat

Rasha Atamny has become the first Muslim woman to be appointed as an Israeli Diplomat. According to The Times of Israel, The Israeli Foreign Ministry appointed Rasha Atamny to represent the Jewish state in Ankara, Turkey, making her Israel’s first female Muslim diplomat. 31-year-old Atamny is currently completing the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s cadet course, and will serve as the first secretary in the Israeli Embassy in Ankara. “I believe in peace because I believe that people can make a positive difference …

Algeria goes after the Ahmadiyya, urges Ahmadis to accept “non-Muslim” status

Algeria has warned followers of the Ahmadiyya Islamic sect in the country against “propagating their faith” In recent months Algerian security services have arrested and charged dozens of Ahmadis in a nationwide sweep against the Islamic sect. Speaking about the crack down on Ahmadis, the country’s Minister of Religious, Mohamad Issa said: “The Ahmadis are not Muslims, and their acknowledgment of this could enable them to live in Algeria, according to the country’s laws that govern the non-Muslim way of …