The Gaza City

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Israel to ease Gaza blockade

Israel will ease much of its land blockade on the Gaza Strip, hoping to stop growing international criticism following the assault on a flotilla of aid ships in which nine activists were killed.

A statement from prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu's office said that Israeli leaders decided today to expand the number of products Israel will allow into Gaza, including construction materials.

"It was agreed to liberalise the system by which civilian goods enter Gaza [and] expand the inflow of materials for civilian projects that are under international supervision," an official statement said, without specifying any product list.

The new arrangements, which were decided upon in a series of meetings between the Middle East Quartet envoy Tony Blair and Netanyahu, over the past 10 days, are expected to cover three areas:

• A list of prohibited goods not allowed into Gaza, replacing the current system of a list of approved goods

• Agreement to allow construction materials for UN-sponsored projects

• Israel to consider allowing EU monitors to be stationed at crossings between Israel and Gaza

Blair described the move as a "very important step".

"It will allow us to keep weapons and weapon materials out of Gaza, but on the other hand to help the Palestinian population there," he told the Israeli daily Haaretz. "The policy in Gaza should be to isolate the extremists but to help the people."

The Israeli cabinet minister Isaac Herzog told Israel's army radio: "We must understand that the blockade implemented until this time is outdated and no longer applicable in the current international and diplomatic climate."

The plan falls short of demands by the international community on Israel to lift the blockade and allow the legitimate Gaza economy to recover.

Currently Israel operates a frequently changing list of items permitted into Gaza, with a ban on all other goods. By reversing this approach to a banned list the hope is that many more items will be permitted and there will be greater transparency and accountability.

Gisha, an Israeli human rights organisation, suggested the move was merely cosmetic.

"The time has come for Israel to ask serious questions about how three years of closure have promoted the goals it declared for itself and what has been the effect on 1.5 million people whose right to travel and to engage in productive work has been denied. We don't need cosmetic changes. We need a policy that recognises the rights of Palestinian residents of Gaza not just to consume but also to produce and to travel."

Chris Gunness, UN spokesman, said the blockade should be lifted entirely. "We need to judge the Israeli authorities by deeds not words because there have been many words in the past," he said.

"What we've been getting into Gaza is a drop in the bucket and, given the scale of the humanitarian task, we need to see the blockade ultimately lifted not eased."

The UN has been trying to import construction materials for the past 18 months to repair schools damaged in the Gaza war of 2008-9 and to construct new buildings to accommodate Gaza's exploding population. Israel has refused on the grounds that the materials could fall into the hands of Hamas and be used to make weapons or build underground bunkers.

The UN has consistently offered to guarantee the security of such material.

The Israeli military said yesterday that it had reached an agreement with the UN on the transfer of humanitarian aid – medical supplies, food and clothing – that was on board the flotilla to Gaza. It made no mention of construction materials that formed the bulk of the flotilla's consignment.

The inquiry set up by Israel to examine the events surrounding the flotilla assault is to hold its first meeting today.

Source: guardian.co.uk

Red Cross: Gaza blockade illegal

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has described Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip as a violation of the Geneva Conventions and called on the Israeli government to lift it.

In a statement released on Monday, the organisation called the blockade "collective punishment", a crime under international law. It described Gaza as a territory plagued by frequent power cuts, a ruined economy, and a collapsed health care system.

"The closure imposed on the Gaza Strip is about to enter its fourth year, choking off any real possibility of economic development," the ICRC said.

"Gazans continue to suffer from unemployment, poverty and warfare, while the quality of Gaza's health care system has reached an all-time low."

Crippling shortages

Israeli officials insist that they provide enough "humanitarian aid" to cover Gaza's basic needs.

But the ICRC - a neutral organisation - said the meagre list of goods allowed into Gaza doesn't meet the needs of the territory's 1.5 million inhabitants.

The shortages are particularly dire in Gaza's health care system, where the ICRC said more than 100 essential medicines - including chemotherapy and hemophilia drugs - are unavailable. Many basic medical supplies, like colonoscopy bags, are also barred from Gaza and routine blackouts cause damage to medical equipment.
Al Jazeera's Nicole Johnston reports on malnutrition amongst children in Gaza

"The state of the health-care system in Gaza has never been worse," Eileen Daly, the ICRC's health co-ordinator in Gaza, said.

"Thousands of patients could go without treatment, and the long-term outlook will be increasingly worrisome."

B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights organisation, released its own report on Monday documenting dire conditions in the Palestinian territories. The group noted that 95 per cent of Gaza's factories have closed, that 98 per cent of residents suffer from blackouts, and that 93 per cent of Gaza's water is polluted.

Amr Moussa, the secretary-general of the Arab League, on Sunday called for an end to the blockade.

Hamas criticised

The ICRC also criticised Hamas, the Islamic movement which controls Gaza, for preventing the ICRC from visiting Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier captured in 2006. Shalit is entitled to visits from the Red Cross under international law.

"In violation of international humanitarian law, [Hamas] has also refused to allow him to get in touch with his family," the ICRC said.

But the bulk of the ICRC's criticism was directed at Israel's blockade. In addition to the health care problems, the ICRC noted that 40 per cent of Gaza's residents are not connected to a sewage system, and that restrictions on movement have driven many farmers and fishermen into poverty.

One-third of Gaza's farmland is located in a "buffer zone" controlled by the Israeli army, and boats are only allowed to fish within three nautical miles of Gaza's coast.

The ICRC demanded that both Israel and the Hamas government "allow and facilitate rapid and unimpeded passage" of aid shipments to Gaza. Hamas has refused to accept 10,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid seized from the flotilla of aid ships attacked last month by the Israeli army.

The Israeli government announced on Sunday that a panel, chaired by former supreme court judge Yaakov Turkel, would investigate the flotilla attack.

Source: english.aljazeera.net

The Ahmadiyyas: Pakistan’s silent sufferers

The Ahmadis who were killed in a terrorist attack on two Lahore mosques last week were innocent people and by not raising our voice for their rights, we as a nation are collectively guilty of their murder, writes Mehmal Sarfraz from Lahore, in the first of her despatches from across the border

The people of Pakistan witnessed two simultaneous terror attacks in Lahore on May 28, 2010. Thousands of worshippers had gathered for Friday prayers at two Ahmadi mosques, ‘Baitul Noor’ in Model Town and ‘Darul Zikr’ in Garhi Shahu, when they were attacked by the terrorists donning suicide vests, wielding Kalashnikovs and hand grenades. More than 90 people lost their lives while hundreds more were injured. The most horrendous aspect of these twin attacks was that they both targeted the Ahmadiyya community, a religious minority that has suffered in silence for far too long.

The Punjab wing of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the Friday attacks. In a text message sent to journalists, the terrorists warned that if the Ahmadis do not leave Pakistan, they should be ready to face death at the hands of the lovers of Prophet Mohammed (Peace Be Upon Him). It was a grim reminder of how the religious bigots have succeeded in promoting sectarianism and also pointed towards the vulnerability of the Ahmadiyya community in Pakistan.

A couple of months ago, a friend wrote something so strong on Twitter that it immediately caught my attention. She tweeted, ‘Three Ahmadis killed in Faisalabad on Thursday (April 1, 2010). They were ambushed by a car with multiple shooters and were shot at (presumably with semi-automatic or automatic weapons) more than 80 times. They died before reaching the hospital. Is this your Islamic Republic of Pakistan? I curse thee, I curse thee, I curse thee!’ Chilling words indeed! And coming from someone who never loses her cool, it made me realise what a mockery we have made of the fundamental rights of citizens in this ‘land of the pure’.

The Ahmadis hold different views on the finality of prophethood from that of other Muslim sects. Muslims commonly believe that Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) is the last prophet of Islam while the Ahmadis believe that Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) was the last of the law-giving prophets in the tradition of Moses and Jesus. They believe that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908) was an ‘ummati’ prophet (a subordinate prophet) and that he was the promised messiah and Imam Mahdi rolled into one. The Lahori Ahmadis believe that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was just a religious reformer and not a prophet. Whatever the beliefs of the Ahmadis, the real issue lies with the clerics in Pakistan who have always had a problem with the Ahmadis for giving reverence to Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.

To understand the plight of the Ahmadis, we have to revisit the 1950s. Some Pakistani politicians and most religious parties took to the streets in 1953 leading to the anti-Ahmadi riots. They demanded that the Ahmadis be declared non-Muslims and the then foreign minister of Pakistan, Chaudhry Zafrullah Khan, be removed from office since he was an Ahmadi and the same should be done with other Ahmadis who held any key positions in the government. The government did not give in to these demands.

But all this changed in 1974 when Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, a secular and progressive man otherwise, declared the Ahmadiyya community non-Muslims. In an attempt to appease the Islamists, ZA Bhutto crucified secularism at the altar of political expediency by adding the Second Amendment to the Pakistani Constitution. Pakistan’s only Nobel Laureate, Dr Abdus Salam, an Ahmadi, left the country for London in protest.

Bhutto’s folly opened the door for the right-wingers to further persecute a peace-loving community. General Ziaul Haq, a military dictator who ruled Pakistan for 11 years and was one of the most bigoted rulers in the country’s history, promulgated Ordinance XX in 1984, which was specific to the Ahmadiyya community. This anti-Ahmadi ordinance prohibited them from ‘posing’ as Muslims, calling their places of worship ‘mosques’ or their call to prayer ‘azan’ like the Muslims do.

The Blasphemy Law together with this ordinance made it an actual curse for the Ahmadis to live in Pakistan. Many of them migrated elsewhere in the 1980s. Pakistan is the only Muslim country that has declared the Ahmadiyya community non-Muslims and where the identity card forms and passport forms make a clear distinction between Muslims and Ahmadis. Many Ahmadis have been harassed and killed in the name of Islam by fanatics over the years; they have also been targeted by the media. Famous anchorpersons and televangelists have given sermons against the Ahmadiyya community.

After the May 28 attacks, an Ahmadi leader, Mirza Khurshid Ahmad, said, “We are also the citizens of Pakistan. If the government wanted to protect us, it would have stopped the hateful propaganda that goes on against us every single day. Anti-Ahmadi posters and banners are published and put out in open view, conferences are held, statements issued that we should leave Pakistan, we are wajib-ul-qatl (worthy of death), we should either convert to Islam or we would be lined up and shot dead? This goes on right under the nose of the government. Incitement to violence is a punishable offence under the law of the land but nobody takes notice of these things.”

It was painful to see the terrorists laying siege to the two Ahmadi mosques for hours and spilling so much blood, but it was even more shameful to be politically correct and calling or writing ‘places of worship’ instead of mosques. It was appalling to see that no politician had the courage to call the slain Ahmadis ‘shaheed‘ (martyrs) as is usually done after other terror attacks and that none of them went to the funerals of the dead either. Intolerance has overtaken our sensibilities. The Ahmadis who died on Friday were innocent people and by not raising our voice for their rights, we as a nation are collectively guilty of their murder. I hang my head in shame.

Source: ahmadiyyatimes.wordpress.com

Dua Masjid Ahmadiyah Diserang, Lebih 70 Tewas

Tehrek-e-Taliban Mengaku Bertanggung Jawab

Lahore, Pelita
Sejumlah pria bersenjata menyerang dua masjid milik kelompok Ahmadiyah, di Pakistan, Jumat (28/5), menyandera sejumlah jamaah, melemparkan granat, dan terlibat baku-tembak dengan aparat kepolisian. Insiden itu menewaskan lebih dari 70 orang dan puluhan lainnya luka-luka dalam serangan yang dilakukan selepas shalat Jumat itu.
Baku-tembak dan ledakan terdengar dari kedua masjid itu, salah satunya masjid terletak di dekat Model Town yang pada Maret lalu mengalami serangan bom bunuh diri. Masjid kedua yang mengalami serangan berada di kawasan padat penduduk Garhi Shahu.
Tidak ada laporan yang menyebutkan ada warga Indonesia yang menjadi korban atas peristiwa ini.
Kedua masjid tersebut milik kelompok Ahmadiyah yang berhaluan Qadiyani yang hingga saat ini masih memiliki 4 juta pengikut di seluruh Pakistan. Mereka seringkali menjadi target kekerasan kelompok mayoritas di Republik Islam itu.
Menurut laporan kepolisian, seorang pelaku teror tewas dan dua orang anggota kepolisian luka-luka, tulis koran yang berbasis di Lahore, The Nation. Kelompok militan Tehrek-e-Taliban mengaku bertanggung jawab atas insiden itu.
Teroris kembali menyerang masjid. Mereka meledakkan granat dan membakarnya. Mereka juga menculik sejumlah jamaah di masjid yang terbakar, kata pejabat keamanan lokal yang sedang memantau situasi, Mushar Ahmed kepada AFP .
Sejumlah televisi juga menayangkan baku-tembak tersebut. Sejumlah kendaraan roda empat dan roda dua tampak terbakar serta seorang korban sipil yang bercucuran darah. Sejumlah saksi, seperti yang dikutip Harian Dawn Pakistan, mengungkapkan kejadian itu tepat setelah para jamaah menyelesaikan shalat Jumat.
Kelompok yang didirikan akhir abad ke-19 itu telah dinyatakan oleh konstitusi Pakistan pada 1970 sebagai aliran non- Muslim. Kelompok yang didirikan Ghulam Ahmad kelahiran 1838 ini memiliki kepercayaan unik, termasuk mengakui kenabian Ghulam Ahmad dan Nabi Isa meninggal pada umur 120 di Srinagar, Kashmir.
Kota Lahore yang berbatasan dengan India seringkali menjadi korban operasi Taliban dan Al-Qaeda. Dalam tiga tahun terakhir, sedikitnya terdapat 3.300 nyawa melayang akibat serangan teror.
Kekerasan antarsekte di Pakistan yang seringkali dipicu perseteruan antara Sunni dan Syiah telah memakan 4.000 korban dalam 10 tahun terakhir.
Pada Oktober 2005, delapan orang tewas dan mencederai 14 lainnya akibat serangan orang bertopeng yang melengkapi diri dengan senjata jenis AK di sebuah masjid Ahmadiyah di Kota Mandi Bahauddin, sekitar 100 Km dari Islamabad.
Insiden Jumat kemarin merupakan serangan terbesar setelah pada Maret lalu di Lahore, seorang pembom bunuh diri menyerang sebuah masjid di kawasan militer yang menewaskan 45 orang.
Serangan tersebut terjadi pada hari Jumat menjelang pelaksanaan shalat Jumat. Sedikitnya delapan serangan mendera Kota Lahore pada tahun lalu yang menewaskan 170 orang. Kota Lahore dikenal sebagai kota bersejarah, tempat bermukimnya sejumlah pembesar politisi, jenderal, dan aparat intelijen.

Sumber: pelita.or.id