[🇧🇩] Israel and Hamas war in Gaza-----Can Bangladesh be a peace broker?

[Saif]

Gaza war rages on eve of Ramadan

Deadly fighting raged in Gaza on Sunday between Israeli forces and Hamas militants, with no truce in sight as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan...

www.newagebd.net

Gaza war rages on eve of Ramadan
Agence France-Presse . Palestine | Published: 01:51, Mar 11,2024

Displaced Palestinians transport their belongings in a vehicle along a street in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday, amid the on-going conflict between Israel and the Hamas movement. ‑— AFP photo

Deadly fighting raged in Gaza on Sunday between Israeli forces and Hamas militants, with no truce in sight as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan neared and a dire humanitarian crisis gripped the besieged Palestinian territory.


A Spanish charity ship with food aid prepared to sail from the Mediterranean island-nation of Cyprus to help alleviate the suffering in the coastal Gaza Strip, now in its sixth month of war.


The non-governmental group Open Arms said its boat would pull a barge with 200 tonnes of food, which its partner the US charity World Central Kitchen would then unload on the shores of Gaza.

Vessel tracking websites showed the Open Arms still in Larnaca on Sunday evening. It was expected to depart ‘in the coming hours’, Cypriot government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis told Cyprus News Agency.

With the UN repeatedly warning of famine, United States, Jordanian and other planes again airdropped food aid, but the United Nation’s aid coordinator for the area has said more supply by land is the best way to get assistance to territory’s 2.4 million people.


Weeks of talks involving United States, Qatari and Egyptian mediators have aimed for a six-week truce and the release of many of the roughly 100 hostages Hamas is still holding in return for Palestinian prisoners released from Israeli jails.

There have been no result so far.

The widely shared target had been to halt the fighting by the start of Ramadan, which is expected to begin as early as Monday depending on the first sighting of the crescent moon.

Both sides have blamed each other for failing to reach a deal, after Israel had demanded a full list of surviving hostages, and Hamas had called for Israel to pull out all its troops from Gaza.

Israel’s government accused Hamas of ‘entrenching its positions like someone who is not interested in a deal and is striving to inflame the region during Ramadan’.

Attention during the Muslim fasting month will focus on the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in annexed east Jerusalem, a frequent flashpoint in the past as it is both Islam’s third holiest site and sacred to Jews who call it the Temple Mount.

A source with knowledge of the truce talks told AFP that ‘there will be a diplomatic push especially in the next 10 days’ with a view to securing a deal within the first half of Ramadan as negotiations between all parties continued.

United States President Joe Biden reiterated on Saturday that Israel has ‘a right to continue to pursue Hamas’, but also stressed his growing impatience with Israel’s right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

With the death toll ever-increasing, Biden told broadcaster MSNBC that Netanyahu ‘must pay more attention to the innocent lives being lost as a consequence of the actions taken’.

At this stage, said Biden, Netanyahu’s approach to the war was ‘hurting Israel more than helping Israel’.

The comments came after Israeli protesters again took to the streets of Tel Aviv for anti-government rallies, joined by some of the desperate families and friends of hostages still held by Hamas.

Biden also signalled he would be willing to speak directly to the Israeli people through an address to the Knesset legislature.

Hamas’s attack which started the war resulted in about 1,160 deaths, mostly civilians, according to Israeli official figures.

The militants also took around 250 hostages, dozens of whom were released during a week-long truce in November. Israel believes 99 hostages remain alive and that 31 have died.

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the United Nations agency had delivered some medical supplies and fuel to two hospitals in northern Gaza on Saturday.

But he added that ‘we need sustained, safe access to health facilities in order to supply them with urgently needed lifesaving healthcare on a regular basis,’ and called for a ceasefire.

The UN has reported particular difficulty in accessing northern Gaza.

The territory’s health ministry said at least 23 children have died from malnutrition and dehydration.

In the southern Gaza city of Rafah, resident Mumen Ahmed told AFP a strike hit a packed car on Sunday morning, causing ‘a martyr and casualties’.

‘We expected with the arrival of Ramadan that the war would end,’ said Ahmed, displaced from Gaza City.

With Ramadan approaching there was no letup in fighting and bombardment in Gaza, with 85 killed in 24 hours, according to the health ministry.

The Israeli military said its troops had killed 13 militants in air strikes and with tank and sniper fire in central Gaza over the past day.

Troops were also engaged in ‘close-quarter combat’ in the southern city of Khan Yunis, where strikes had killed 17 militants.

The army reported the death of one more soldier in Gaza, bringing to 249 the number who have died there since ground operations began in late October. It says it has killed more than 10,000 militants.


Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said Israel was preparing for ‘all possible operational scenarios’ during Ramadan.

He said, ‘Hamas is preventing a deal and is acting against what was raised by the mediators.’

Qatar-based Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh called for the speedy distribution of aid and the full opening of border crossings ‘to end the siege of our people’.

Biden last Thursday announced that the US military would build a temporary pier on Gaza’s coast to facilitate larger aid shipments by sea, but this would take about 60 days, according to the Pentagon.
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[Lulldapull]

Iran's not goin back down on dis drama. Iran's created dis drama to draw de colored muslims away from da West......Any man n his dog should be able to put 2 n 2 together no? We got Pakistani converts talking it all up 'online' supporting Al-Balastinian/ muzlim cause.......but behind da scene's its Iran dats instigated all dis and has a dozen proxies numbering several million armed combatants. I'd like ta see which other muzlim country got da oompphh to do what Iran's doin?.......lol. Iran knows its cornered only 7 million hollywood people in Israel with millions of its proxies Armageddon/ Apocalyptic style.......lol. Sunni muzlim can't cut da mustard no?......lol.....The US/ UK/ Israel run Sunni/ wahabbi islam no?......lol.....Come on no? What do we do now?

 

[Deleted due to Error (Muji Iqbal)]

As if Israel would care about Bangladesh.

China would be a better peace broker between the Palestinians and the Israelis.

 

[Lulldapull]

As if Israel would care about Bangladesh.

China would be a better peace broker between the Palestinians and the Israelis.

Oh paee khuda da khauf kar tu.....lol....China chickunn/ Roosi communista doing what Irani turani tell dem to do in da middhal heest no?.....Saanu itthay bewquff bun ker betthay ne?......lol......Come on bro. $30 billion da irani tail China buying today annually no? Who you think China values more? us or da Irani? Suchh boleen......lol....What do we got on offer for China other than zabardasti dee anti-India rhetoric only? Twannu samajh nahi aata? Whats goin on? Come on bro.

 

[4MikeEcho]

This is what one would call either inflated ego on place in the world or complete lack of understanding of the situation. Here are the few countries that can potentially influence the situation:
1. Those threatening to provide troops right up to Israel's border
2. Those with natural resources thinking to reduce the export of those resources to Israel or its supporters
3. Or just outright sabre rattling by Arab countries that together can present a problem for Israel.

Yemen is proving that it can at least influence the trajectory of events. Everybody else, OIC and others are all just placating to their local population to seem legitimate.

 

[Saif]

Galloway, Gaza and global conscience

ON FEBRUARY 29, 2024, voters of England’s Rochdale constituency handed a landslide by-election victory to the veteran British...

www.newagebd.net

Galloway, Gaza and global conscience
Md Mahmudul Hasan | Published: 00:00, Mar 12,2024

George Galloway

ON FEBRUARY 29, 2024, voters of England’s Rochdale constituency handed a landslide by-election victory to the veteran British politician George Galloway. In his campaign for the parliamentary seat, Galloway focussed on Israel’s mass murderous atrocities in Gaza and took a swipe at the British political establishment for its continuous complicity with the apartheid state. His opponents used this as a political weapon against him and complained that he gave precedence to a foreign issue.

In this essay, I might be susceptible to a comparable charge as I intend to talk about a UK election event in a Bangladeshi newspaper. However, there are good reasons that will justify the selection of my topic and will remove any whiff of exoticness from my essay.

I have been familiar with political debates surrounding George Galloway for quite some time. When I went to the UK for higher education in the early 2000s, I heard his name buzzing around British politics. Various global events — such as the 2001 Western invasion of Afghanistan, the 2003 US-led war on Iraq and decades-long Israeli settler colonialism in Palestine — accelerated his rise as a political star and a political survivor.

Galloway was one of the organisers of and speakers at Britain’s February 15, 2003 anti-war rally at Hyde Park in London, which was attended by arguably two million people. I attended this and many other public gatherings in London where he was among the main speakers. I also attended a talk by Galloway at the University of Portsmouth where I was a doctoral student. Some of my friends, especially the late John Molyneux, organised the event for him to speak.

A landmark feat in the career of this political maverick happened in May 2005 when he was invited to give testimony before a US Senate committee hearing. It was about the allegation that he had benefited from the sale of Iraqi oil in the 1990s when Iraq was under controversial (and cruel) international economic sanctions. The way Galloway rebutted the accusations against him and defended himself at the US Senate was an instant hit that earned him praise. I clearly remember that the British media of all kinds beamed with pride in the stunning performance of a British politician at the US Senate.

Recently there has been an increased media spotlight on Galloway since he won the Rochdale by-election. This enabled his re-entry in the House of Commons. He bagged 12,335 votes while his nearest contender David Tully — an independent candidate who was previously little known beyond Rochdale — received 6,638 votes. The vote shares of the ruling Tory party and the opposition Labour party were significantly lower — 3,731 and 2,402, respectively. By the way, this is the seventh time that Galloway has been elected as a British MP.

Unfortunately, the humiliating defeat of Britain’s big political parties in Rochdale does not seem to have kindled any sense of humility in their leaders; their reactions to election defeat have exhibited signs of denial and arrogance. Instead of respecting people’s verdict, the British political establishment as well as the hostile media have made unflattering remarks about Galloway and his victory. The UK prime minister Rishi Sunak regarded the democratic choice of the people of Rochdale as ‘beyond alarming’. Such remarks are an insult to democracy and to the intelligence of those who voted for Galloway. By making such statements, power-wielding people both in the government and the opposition in Britain seem to have disregarded and disrespected people’s freedom to vote for who they chose to represent their constituency.

Many commentators have exaggerated the role of the Muslim vote in Rochdale in the victory of Galloway. However, statistics, common sense and the reality of facts on the ground may not support the assumption that the Muslim vote was the only reason for Galloway’s victory, or that Muslims are the only religious group who are sympathetic to the Palestinian cause. Muslims constitute 28 per cent of the population of the Rochdale constituency, whereas Galloway obtained 39.7 per cent of the casted votes. Moreover, it would be inconceivable to think that all Muslim votes went to Galloway. Other candidates, including the Muslim Azhar Ali, must have bagged their own shares of Muslim votes too. So, it will be a total betrayal of reality to claim that all Muslim voters (or only Muslim voters) in Rochdale cast their votes for Galloway.

It is equally untenable to deny the comprehensiveness of support for justice for Palestine. It is also preposterous to believe that only Muslims champion the continuous Palestinian struggle against Israeli occupation and aggression. It is not only Muslims who sympathise with the Palestinian cause. Israel’s oppression of Palestinians is a human issue, not a religious one. The prolonged Israeli genocide in Gaza is a concern not only for Muslims, it is for all who believe in human dignity and human rights. The Palestinian issue has perhaps divided people of the globe into two camps: those who have unstinted and unreserved compassion for other human beings and those who put their vested interests ahead of concern for others.

Importantly, the dormant global conscience seems to be evolving; it is gradually waking up to the realisation that Palestinians are victims of Israeli occupation and that there is a need for concerted efforts to end Israeli apartheid. The people of Rochdale are no different from billions in the rest of the world who have been horrified by the extent of Israeli cruelty and depravity.

Galloway’s election victory in Rochdale corresponds to the renewed awakening of the global conscience in regards to the question of Palestine. Perhaps, people of Rochdale have realised that politicians who facilitate injustice in other shores are likely to be unjust to those in their own country. They are smart enough to understand that political leaders who support oppression in Gaza have lost their moral compass and should not be entrusted with public office.

There are other political leaders who pay only lip service to the Palestinian cause and ostensibly condemn Israel, but oppress their own people and maintain clandestine links with the apartheid regime. These are hypocrites and can be found in many countries.

Rochdale by-election results have proved that, in a democratic system, voters have the power to punish unjust politicians and that people cannot be deceived at the time. I hope such a democratic system will be restored in our country and we will be re-empowered to choose leaders who will run our country.




Dr Md Mahmudul Hasan is professor in the department of English Language and Literature, International Islamic University Malaysia.​

 

[Saif]

You don’t have to be a Muslim to feel for the Palestinians

It is heartening to note that many large demonstrations held in Western capitals and major cities were participated in by people of all religions.

www.thedailystar.net

You don’t have to be a Muslim to feel for the Palestinians​

Demonstrators protest in solidarity with Palestinians in London, Britain, October 14, 2023. PHOTO: REUTERS

In the continuing act of Israeli barbarity, the newest phase of which commenced on October 7, 2023, the Israeli Defense Forces gunned down a bunch of hungry unarmed Palestinians seeking food and water from relief trucks—killing 112 and injuring more than 700 people. So far, nearly 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza massacre, nearly 70 percent of Gaza's buildings have been destroyed, and more than 80 percent of its population has been displaced. Even Palestinian hospitals were not spared. The latest United Nations Security Council (UNSC) draft resolution for a ceasefire has been blocked by the US, the only council member to do so, and the UK, some refer to it as the 51st US State, since the Second Gulf War, abstained.

In an unpardonably cynical act, the US started airdropping relief on Gaza. What a mockery—a classic illustration of running with the hare and hunting with the hounds. Biden is air-dropping food pallets to the victims of the war machine he is arming with billions of US taxpayers' dollars!
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What is going on in Gaza now is a pure and simple act of genocide, meeting all the criteria of the UN definition of the word. Not only has a people been decimated, but civilians have also been particularly singled out. To stem the flow of information, journalists have been targeted, and so far, reportedly more than hundreds of them have been killed, some of them deliberately.​

The world conscience seems to be unmoved by the genocide that Israel has been conducting since October 7. At the official level, the remonstration from the Arab and Muslim countries has at best been muted. But does one have to be a Muslim to feel for the Muslims?

No.

It is heartening to note that many large demonstrations held in Western capitals and major cities were participated in by people of all religions and, in some instances, the protest marches have been led by Jewish organisations. It was not a Muslim country that brought the case of genocide against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

A few weeks ago, Aaron Bushnell, a serving US Air Force member, was driven by the pangs of his conscience so much so that the only way open to him—to express his aversion to the ongoing genocide of a helpless nation, conducted by his country's proxy in the Middle East and actively aided and abetted by his country and supported by its Western minions—was to sacrifice the most precious thing he owned: his life. For Bushnell, living would have meant complicity in the act of planned elimination of a nation. He chose to end it, in the most painful way, perhaps sharing vicariously the pain and distress the Palestinians have been enduring—not for the last five months but for the last 76 years.

I have not bothered to delve into Bushnell's ethnicity or his religion. Why should I? He rose above the petty thoughts that confine us to a narrowly defined meaning and space of religion, race, or colour, and chose to be human. Through his extreme act of self-immolation, Bushnell has demonstrated that the Palestinian issue is no longer rooted in the narrow religious narrative but encompasses the larger issue of humanity. That is more than we can say of many of the leaders—religious or political, who continue to think still in binary terms. Just glance through the statement of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who is only seized with the thoughts and concern for the Christian Palestinians.

What is going on in Gaza now is a pure and simple act of genocide, meeting all the criteria of the UN definition of the word. Not only has a people been decimated, but civilians have also been particularly singled out. To stem the flow of information, journalists have been targeted, and so far, reportedly more than hundreds of them have been killed, some of them deliberately. Humanitarian and aid workers are being barred from entering the occupied territories.

With every ongoing day of Israel's persecution of the Gaza war, the masks of the hypocrites, the peddlers of so-called human rights and children's rights and women's rights, and the rule of law and a world order based on equity and justice is peeling off. The Western media, some of the European countries, and some Arab nations too by their loud silence, have exposed their duplicity in a barefaced manner, unwilling to acknowledge the reality, even hesitant as we saw one prominent US newspaper lacking the moral courage to give out the actual figure of the victims of the Israeli massacre of a group of Palestinians gathered around a relief truck on February 29, choosing instead to say "many" killed. These countries and their leaders have lost all credentials and moral standing to talk about issues of human rights. It should not be lost upon those who are aiding and abetting the Israeli regime to perpetuate its barbarity, arming it to indulge in the wanton killing of civilians, something that is prohibited by the Geneva Convention, to lend themselves as good candidates for trial in the International Criminal Tribunal. Remember Milosevich!

However, the question is, what is the outcome of the problem? Will the saner section of world opinion allow the eviction and decimation of a nation to go unchallenged? Is there none to stop a pariah nation that has ridden rough-shod over international public opinion, UN sanctions, and ruling over the last 76 years, from continuing with its illegal persecution of war against civilians?

Unfortunately, it is not governments with the power to act who we can expect to side with the rule of law. They have their strategic interest motivated by the military-industrial complex to safeguard. The only force, I feel that can sway the respective government's position, is public opinion. And this has been demonstrated in some measure through the recent US primaries, which has made the administration modulate its position from the past. Critical comments, unheard of heretofore, of Israeli persecution of Gaza offensive, have come from the White House lately, both from the US President and Vice-President.

Only the people can change the situation. Not only individual acts of self-sacrifice like that of Bushnell's but also collective expression of reprehension and disgust at the current situation. And that must cut across religious and ethnic lines.

The other prospect, if change does not come soon, is hard to ponder. But it will no doubt be calamitous.​

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Brig Gen Shahedul Anam Khan, ndc, psc (retd) is a former associate editor of The Daily Star.

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[Saif]

Israeli strike in south Lebanon kills Hamas member

An Israeli drone strike on a car outside the southern Lebanese city of Tyre on Wednesday killed a member of Hamas from the nearby Palestinian camp of Rashidieh, a source from the faction told Reuters. The source identified the member as Hadi Mustafa but said he was not a senior figure. Two securit

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Bangladesh demands immediate ceasefire in Gaza​

FE ONLINE DESK

Published :​

Mar 13, 2024 22:03

Updated :​

Mar 13, 2024 22:03

Bangladesh has condemned Israeli efforts to deport people out of Gaza and demanded immediate ceasefire and full and unhindered access to humanitarian assistance.

"Full implementation of the three Rs -Relief, Review and Recovery can only be possible with an end of genocidal attack on innocent civilians and infrastructures," said Mohammad Tofazzel Hossain Miah, Principal Secretary, Prime Minister's Office in ILO Governing Body meeting on Wednesday, reports UNB.

In his statement, Tofazzel Hossain said Bangladesh would like to urge the international community to intensify pressure on the occupying power, Israel and its apartheid government, to stop this violent attack on civilians, to allow Palestinians to rebuild their economy with international support, and to allow the Palestinian workforce to resume employment in Israel.

He said Bangladesh aligns with the statement delivered on behalf of the majority of ASPAG countries and the statement of OIC.

Bangladesh expressed its profound concerns over 66 per cent loss of jobs with 85 per cent reduction of employment in Gaza strip as well as 40 per cet loss of employment in West Bank.

"The illegal war against the civilian and non-combatant population of Palestine has caused shrinking of the Palestinian economy by one third in the fourth quarter of 2023. Labour market governance institutions, labour administration, social protection, social dialogue got irreparably affected," said Tofazzel Hossain.

Bangladesh thanked the donors and partner countries who have contributed to the ILO's Development Cooperation Programme.

"My delegation also expresses its sincere appreciation to the Office for conducting a three-phase programme with priorities in Relief, Review and Recovery with an internal budget of 1.4 million initially," said Tofazzel Hossain.

"We would like to join our voices to enhance donor support for successful implementation of the programme," he added.

He highlighted the overwhelming necessity of employment-intensive infrastructure building and arranging suitable jobs for the family members of the murdered Palestinians, disabled persons.

"Bangladesh, like most other States, continues to recognise Palestine as a State in the fullest meaning of the term and identifies Isarel as the illegal occupying power of Palestine," said Tofazzel Hossain.

Bangladesh expressed its grave concerns in the genocidal attacks on unarmed civilians, including women and children, of Palestine by the occupant Israeli Armed forces as well as the targeting of civilian infrastructures and indiscriminate use of force.

"We condemn Israel for its blatant violations of international humanitarian and human rights laws," Tofazzel Hossain said.​