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UN warns of Gaza's "total collapse" amid power crisis

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Further cuts to Gaza’s already diminished electricity supply has besieged Strip on brink of humanitarian catastrophe.

Israel reduced the amount of electricity to Gaza by between 45 and 60 minutes a day [Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters]

The United Nations has warned that longer power cuts threaten a “total collapse” of basic services in Gaza, with residents in the beseiged Palestinian territory being held hostage to political infighting.

Gazans currently receive three to four hours of mains electricity a day, delivered from the territory’s own power station and others in Israel and Egypt.
Gaza: Power crisis worsens with PA push to reduce electricity supply

 

Israel decided on Sunday to reduce the amount of electricity it supplies to Gaza by between 45 and 60 minutes a day after Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas cut electricity funding by his West Bank-based Palestinian Authority.

The move was widely seen as an attempt by Abbas to step up pressure on the rival Hamas movement, which runs Gaza.

 

The UN humanitarian coordinator for the occupied territories, Robert Piper, warned the additional power cuts would have a disastrous effect.

“A further increase in the length of blackouts is likely to lead to a total collapse of basic services, including critical functions in the health, water and sanitation sectors,” Piper said in a statement.

 

“The people in Gaza should not be held hostage to this long-standing internal Palestinian dispute,” he said.

Israeli and global NGOs, including Amnesty International, joined the world body in condemning the longer hours of blackout.

A joint statement of 16 groups, among them Israel’s B’Tselem, Peace Now and Rabbis for Human Rights, said they have asked Israel’s attorney general to intervene.

 

They said further cuts would contravene a 2008 Israeli supreme court ruling that years of Israeli control over the strip had created near-total dependence on power supply from Israel and it must therefore continue to provide sufficient electricity to meet humanitarian needs.

Amnesty warned in a separate statement of a “looming humanitarian catastrophe”.

It said additional reductions in power “will have a disastrous impact on Gaza’s battered infrastructure and cause a public health disaster”.

“The move will also endanger thousands of lives including those of hospital patients with chronic conditions or in intensive care, including babies on life support.”

Read also: Gazans worried about Qatari crisis

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that Israel had “no interest in an escalation,” blaming internal Palestinian disputes for the crisis.
Is Palestinian reconciliation possible? – Inside Story

 

Hamas said the cut was made on Abbas’s orders and termed it “a catastrophe”.

“This decision aggravates the situation and risks an explosion in the Gaza Strip,” it said on Monday.

Hamas has run Gaza since 2007, when it seized the territory from Abbas’s Fatah movement in a dispute over parliamentary elections won by Hamas the previous year.

 

Multiple attempts at reconciliation between Hamas and Abbas’s Fatah movement have failed, but the Palestinian Authority has continued to pay Israel for some electricity delivered to Gaza.

The prospect of even lengthier blackouts in Gaza has raised fears of a new upsurge in violence.

Israel and Hamas have fought three wars since 2008.

Source: News agencies

Saudi led blockade on Qatar affecting college students

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Young people from across the Middle East come to Qatar to study at various universities.

 

But the air, sea and land blockade imposed by Qatar’s neighbours is disrupting their education.

 

Some of the students taking summer school courses at universities in Doha are from countries locked in diplomatic dispute with Qatar.

 

Their future looks uncertain.

 

Al Jazeera’s Victoria Gatenby reports from Qatar.

Huge fire engulfs tower block in west London while Muslims rescue survivors

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https://youtu.be/WTFACbUKOcw

At least 12 dead and at least 68 people taken to hospital after fire engulfs the 24-floor building.

WHAT WE KNOW

  • Fire broke out around 1am local time
  • Grenfell Tower is a 24-floor apartment building in west London
  • 12 people confirmed dead, at least 68 taken to hospital
  • 200 firefighters trying to put the fire out

Fire engulfed a 24-storey housing block in central London, killing at least 12 people and injuring at least 68 others in an inferno that trapped residents as they slept.

Flames raced through the high-rise Grenfell Tower block of apartments in the north Kensington area after taking hold around 1:00am Wednesday (00:00GMT) and witnesses reported many residents desperately calling for help from windows of upper floors.

The London Fire Brigade said 40 fire engines and 200 firefighters were battling the blaze which had engulfed all floors from the second to the top of the building.

London Metropolitan Police Commander Stuart Cunday said on Wednesday evening the death toll had risen to 12, adding he believed the number “will sadly increase”. An earlier police statement put the death toll at six.

London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan said “a lot of people” still unaccounted for more than eight hours after the fire was reported.

“Unfortunately, there have been a  number of fatalities,” Danny Cotton, Commissioner of the London Fire Brigade, said. “It’s a major fire that has affected every floor from the second floor upwards.”

Flames and smoke billow as firefighters deal with the fire at Latimer Road in west London [Toby Melville/Reuters]

Flames ravaged the tower, lighting up the pre-dawn west London skyline and sending up a thick plume of black smoke. Flumes of black and grey smoke billowed into the air over London hours after the blaze was sparked.

Large pieces of debris could be seen falling from the building.

“A number of people being treated for a range of injuries,” police said.

It has emerged that residents of Grenfell Tower voiced concerns about the building’s fire safety last year.

“It is a truly terrifying thought but the Grenfell Action Group firmly believe that only a catastrophic event will expose the ineptitude and incompetence of our landlord, the KCTMO, and bring an end to the dangerous living conditions and neglect of health and safety legislation that they inflict upon their tenants and leaseholders,” members of the Grenfell Action Group said in a blog dated November 2016.

The group has since posted a new entry on its blog, saying “all our warnings fell on deaf ears”.

“We predicted that a catastrophe like this was inevitable and just a matter of time.”

No KCTMO official was available for comment.

Police evacauted people from inside and around the Grenfill Tower building [Reuters]

Witnesses said they heard screaming from the upper floors as the flames rose in the night.

“They were trapped. They couldn’t come downstairs, especially from the top floor … People have been burned,” a witness identified as Daniel told BBC Radio London.

“I have seen it with my own eyes. And I have seen people jump.”

Hanan Wahabi, 39, told AFP news agency she escaped with her husband and son, 16, and eight-year-old daughter but feared for her brother and his family who live on the 21st floor.

“Last time I saw him they were waving out the window, his wife and children,” she said.

“I’ve not heard from them since, the phone is not going through, the landline isn’t going through.”

Another witness, Tamara, told the BBC she also saw people trying to throw their children to safety.

“There’s people throwing their kids out: ‘Just save my children, just save my children’,” she said.

“There’s people at their windows: ‘Help me, help me, help me!’ You can see the fire go into the house and into the last room that they’re in, and just engulfing their whole apartment.”

Al Jazeera’s Laurence Lee, reporting from London, said “there were serious and long-standing complaints by the residents”.

“This is being described as a potentially catastrophic event,” he said.

More than 50 people were taken to hospitals [AFP]
People were still stuck inside the building, according to witnesses [The Associated Press]

Source: Al Jazeera and news agencies

Huge fire engulfs tower block in west London while Muslims rescue survivors

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At least 12 dead and at least 68 people taken to hospital after fire engulfs the 24-floor building.

WHAT WE KNOW

  • Fire broke out around 1am local time
  • Grenfell Tower is a 24-floor apartment building in west London
  • 12 people confirmed dead, at least 68 taken to hospital
  • 200 firefighters trying to put the fire out

Fire engulfed a 24-storey housing block in central London, killing at least 12 people and injuring at least 68 others in an inferno that trapped residents as they slept.

Flames raced through the high-rise Grenfell Tower block of apartments in the north Kensington area after taking hold around 1:00am Wednesday (00:00GMT) and witnesses reported many residents desperately calling for help from windows of upper floors.

The London Fire Brigade said 40 fire engines and 200 firefighters were battling the blaze which had engulfed all floors from the second to the top of the building.

London Metropolitan Police Commander Stuart Cunday said on Wednesday evening the death toll had risen to 12, adding he believed the number “will sadly increase”. An earlier police statement put the death toll at six. 

London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan said “a lot of people” still unaccounted for more than eight hours after the fire was reported.

“Unfortunately, there have been a  number of fatalities,” Danny Cotton, Commissioner of the London Fire Brigade, said. “It’s a major fire that has affected every floor from the second floor upwards.”

Flames and smoke billow as firefighters deal with the fire at Latimer Road in west London [Toby Melville/Reuters]

Flames ravaged the tower, lighting up the pre-dawn west London skyline and sending up a thick plume of black smoke. Flumes of black and grey smoke billowed into the air over London hours after the blaze was sparked.

Large pieces of debris could be seen falling from the building.

“A number of people being treated for a range of injuries,” police said.

It has emerged that residents of Grenfell Tower voiced concerns about the building’s fire safety last year.

“It is a truly terrifying thought but the Grenfell Action Group firmly believe that only a catastrophic event will expose the ineptitude and incompetence of our landlord, the KCTMO, and bring an end to the dangerous living conditions and neglect of health and safety legislation that they inflict upon their tenants and leaseholders,” members of the Grenfell Action Group said in a blog dated November 2016.

The group has since posted a new entry on its blog, saying “all our warnings fell on deaf ears”.

“We predicted that a catastrophe like this was inevitable and just a matter of time.”

No KCTMO official was available for comment.

Police evacauted people from inside and around the Grenfill Tower building [Reuters]

Witnesses said they heard screaming from the upper floors as the flames rose in the night.

“They were trapped. They couldn’t come downstairs, especially from the top floor … People have been burned,” a witness identified as Daniel told BBC Radio London.

“I have seen it with my own eyes. And I have seen people jump.”

Hanan Wahabi, 39, told AFP news agency she escaped with her husband and son, 16, and eight-year-old daughter but feared for her brother and his family who live on the 21st floor.

“Last time I saw him they were waving out the window, his wife and children,” she said.

“I’ve not heard from them since, the phone is not going through, the landline isn’t going through.”

Another witness, Tamara, told the BBC she also saw people trying to throw their children to safety.

“There’s people throwing their kids out: ‘Just save my children, just save my children’,” she said.

“There’s people at their windows: ‘Help me, help me, help me!’ You can see the fire go into the house and into the last room that they’re in, and just engulfing their whole apartment.”

Al Jazeera’s Laurence Lee, reporting from London, said “there were serious and long-standing complaints by the residents”.

“This is being described as a potentially catastrophic event,” he said.

More than 50 people were taken to hospitals [AFP]

People were still stuck inside the building, according to witnesses [The Associated Press]

Source: Al Jazeera and news agencies

POLYGYNY: THE EARLIER, THE MERRIER

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Personally, I have never hid my desire for polygyny both online and in real life. In fact, some of my female colleagues at the University would taunt me for preaching something that I’m yet to practice.

 

In response, I tell them to chill, that very soon, they all will be invited to my “mathnaic wolimah”.

 

As a student of Islamic knowledge, I’d always argued that the injunction in Qur’an 4:3 makes polygyny the ideal marriage while monogamy is merely an exception.

 

Unfortunately, one of the numerous challenges facing the Ummah today is the warped mentality and harsh attitude of most Muslim parents to polygyny. Many parents believe that polygyny is reserved for only widows and divorcees. They will never consent to a marriage between their young and “under thirty” daughter and a (previously) married man. They see such act as a taboo and abomination.

 

How on earth will their daughter play second fiddle in her marriage? Tufia! She deserves a single guy who will take good care of her, and not “another woman’s husband.”

 

A close friend once told me about his personal experience on the journey to polygyny has been a nasty and provocative one. He said, ọrẹ, twice, I’ve tried, and twice I’ve been denied. Now, a third attempt is heading for a serious showdown.

 

Funny enough, it’s the same set of questions that keep popping up despite the ethno-cultural diversities of my never-would-be in-laws.

 

He narrated a conversation that ensued between him and a brother to one of the ladies. Read carefully what he said:

 

Him (the lady’s brother): So, why do you want to marry again?

Me (my friend): Same reason why I married before, sir. I want to be happy, guard my chastity, procreate as many as is destined for me, and be a responsible husband and father.

Him: Are you not happily married?

Me: Yes, I am. I want to be happier.

Him: Why do you want to marry (names withheld)?

Me: Because I have the physical, mental and emotional capacity to deal justly among my wives as ordained by the Shari’ah. I see in her outstanding qualities of an ideal wife and mother to our kids.

Him: How old are you and your marriage?

Me: I’m below 40 and my marriage is four years old.

Him: (with a huge sigh of exclamation on his face) Four years is too short to take a second wife and, especially at such a young age.

Me: (Infuriated by the embarrassing response having had a previous experience) Is that from the Qur’an or Sunnah? Or is it just your personal view?

 

Who determines what age a man marries whether his first or fourth wife?

 

 

READ ALSO : Science of Hadith

 

 

The thing is, neither does Islam stipulate any particular period as suitable for the practice of polygyny, nor does it set stringent conditions for its practice. In fact, one can contract multiple marriages on the same day with different women.

 

He can also decide to take a second, third or fourth within days or weeks of his first marriage! It’s his exclusive right, and it should be respected.

 

However, while we do not condemn the efforts of parents and guardians of the young would-be mathnaas to ensure that their wards are in safe and best hands, we hold that there’s unnecessary extremism in the manner of questions that they ask suitors seeking their daughters’ hands in marriage.

 

For Allah’s sakes polygyny is neither an abomination nor a curse. It is a proper marriage that gives equal responsibilities and rights to all partners. This unnecessary frustration of suitors must stop, otherwise there would be an embarrassing traffic of young Muslim ladies seeking marriage in the nearest future.

 

Personally, I feel that the best time to start polygyny is between the first three to five years of one’s marriage when love is still at its peak and the broken hymen is yet to heal. It allows for equal participation in the building of the marriage edifice, and ensure that the children grow up together in an atmosphere of peace and tranquility.

 

It’s usually problematic after this period (still within the first ten years) especially for the one with two to three children to look after. The worst scenario is when you wait until 20 years has passed on your marriage before informing Ummu of your desire to marry again. So help you God!

 

Do not create problems for yourselves. Do not turn your houses into war zones and your children to enemies of one another. If you want to enjoy polygyny, go for it at an earlier time, and fulfil your responsibilities towards your family.

 

The earlier, the merrier. Your time is ticking and it’s ticking fast. What are you waiting for?

 

 

 

Credit : Sirnucy Lafiagi

OUR VOICE HAS COME

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OUR VOICE HAS COME

Assalaamu alaykum warahmatuLlaah wabarakaatuHu

WE NOW HAVE A VOICE: They will no longer narrate our stories for us.

The media has been very cruel and bias for decades or centuries probably. We do not tell our stories hence allowing them to tell it for us. The days of *sleep and slumber* are gone, we now have a voice. AlhamduliLlaah!!! الحمد لله رب العالمين

Here comes our voice in the media ??????????

??? knowislam.com.ng

knowislam.com.ng is where you read what happens in the world with good intent and unbiased mind. We must be kept abreast of information and developments around us especially in the Muslim world. It is well said to say : “An uninformed man is a deformed man” ‘ ….or better put ” a dead man” ‘ You can hence visit knowislam.com.ng daily to be informed of what goes around in the world.

AJISAFE NICEMAN

Knowislam
know paradise

Science of Hadith

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In the Name of Allah, the Most Compassionate the Most MercifulWe have, Without doubt, sent down the message: and we will assuredly guard it (from corruption) (Qur’an 15:9)

The promise made by Allah(SWT) in Qur’an 15:9 is obviously fulfilled in the undisputed purity of the Qur’anic text throughout the fourteen centuries since its revelation. However, what is often forgotten by many Muslims is that the divine promise also includes, by necessity, the Sunnah of the Prophet(P), because the Sunnah is the practical example of the implementation of the Qur’anic guidance, the wisdom taught to the Prophet(P) along with the scripture, and neither the Qur’an nor the Sunnah can be understood correctly without the other.
Allah(SWT) preserved the Sunnah by enabling the Companions and those after them to memorize, write down and pass on the statements of the Prophet(P), and the descriptions of his way, as well as to continue the blessings of practicing the Sunnah.
Later, as the purity of the knowledge of the Sunnah became threatened, Allah(SWT) caused the Muslim Ummah to produce individuals with exceptional memory skills and analytical expertise, who travelled tirelessly to collect thousands of narrations and distinguish the true words of prophetic wisdom from those corrupted by weak memories, from forgeries by unscrupulous liars, and from the statements of the large number of Ulama (scholars), the Companions and those who followed their way. All of this was achieved through precise attention to the words narrated, and detailed familiarity with the biographies of the thousands of reporters of hadith.

The methodology of the expert scholars of hadith in assessing the narrations and sorting out the genuine from the mistaken and fabricated, for ms the subject matter of the science of hadith. In this article a brief discussion is given of the terminology and classifications of hadith.
Components Of Hadith
A hadith is composed of three parts (see the figure [below]):

Matn (text), isnad (chain of reporters), and taraf (the part, or the beginning sentence, of the text which refers to the sayings, actions or characteristics of the Prophet(P), or his concurrence with others action). The authenticity of the hadith depends on the reliability of its reporters, and the linkage among them.
Classifications Of Hadith

A number of classifications of hadith have been made. Five of these classifications are shown in the figure [below], and are briefly described subsequentl

According to the reference to a particular authority

Four types of hadith can be identified.

Qudsi – Divine; a revelation from Allah(SWT); relayed with the words of the Prophet(P).

Marfu` – elevated; a narration from the Prophet(P), e.g., I heard the Prophet(P) saying …

Mauquf– stopped: a narration from a companion only, e.g., we were commanded to …

Maqtu` – severed: a narration from a successor.
According to the links of isnad – interrupted or uninterrupted

Six categories can be identified.
Musnad – supported: a hadith which is reported by a traditionalist, based on what he learned from his teacher at a time of life suitable for learning; similarly – in turn – for each teacher until the isnad reaches a well known companion, who in turn, reports from the Prophet(P).
Muttasil – continuous: a hadith with an uninterrupted isnad which goes back only to a companion or successor.
Mursal – hurried: if the link between the successor and the Prophet(P) is missing, e.g., when a successor says “The Prophet said…”.

Munqati` – broken: is a hadith whose link anywhere before the successor (i.e., closer to the traditionalist recording the hadith) is missing.

Mu`adal – perplexing: is a hadith whose reporter omits two or more consecutive reporters in the isnad

Mu`allaq – hanging: is a hadith whose reporter omits the whole isnad and quotes the Prophet(P) directly (i.e., the link is missing at the beginning).

 

According to the number of reporters involved in each stage of isnad

Five categories of hadith can be identified:

Mutawatir – Consecutive: is a hadith which is reported by such a large number of people that they cannot be expected to agree upon a lie, all of them together.
Ahad – isolated: is a hadith which is narrated by people whose number does not reach that of the mutawatir.

It is further classified into:

Mash’hur – famous: hadith reported by more than two reporters.

`Aziz – rare, strong: at any stage in the isnad, only two reporters are found to narrate the hadith.

Gharib – strange: At some stage of the isnad, only one reporter is found relating it.

According to the nature of the text and isnad

 Munkar – denounced: is a hadith which is reported by a weak narrator, and whose narration goes against another authentic hadith.

Mudraj – interpolated: an addition by a reporter to the text of the hadith being narrated.

According to the reliability and memory of the reporters

This provides the final verdict on a hadith – four categories can be identified:

Sahih – sound. Imam al-Shafi`i states the following requiremetts for a hadith, which is not Mutawatir, to be acceptable “each reporter should be trustworthy in his religion; he should be known to be truthtul in his narrating, to understand what he narrates, to know how a different expression can alter the meaning, and to report the wording of the hadith verbatim, not only its meaning”.

Hasan – good: is the one where its source is known and its reporters are unambiguous.

Da`if – weak: a hadith which fails to reach the status of Hasan. Usually, the weakness is: a) one of discontinuity in the isnad, in which case the hadith could be – according to the nature of the discontinuity – Munqati (broken), Mu`allaq (hanging), Mu`adal (perplexing), or Mursal (hurried), or b) one of the reporters having a disparaged character, such as due to his telling lies, excessive mistakes, opposition to the narration of more reliable sources, involvement in innovation, or ambiguity surrounding his person.

Maudu` – fabricated or forged: is a hadith whose text goes against the established norms of the Prophet’s sayings, or its reporters include a liar. Fabricated hadith are also recognized by external evidence related to a discrepancy found in the dates or times of a particular incident.

Egypt: Parliament Committee approves Saudi Islands deal

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Violence erupts after committee agrees Cairo to hand over two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia after heated debate.

A lawyer shouts slogans during a protest against the accord to hand over control of two strategic Red Sea islands [Amr Nabil/AP]

Egyptian protesters opposed to a 2016 agreement to transfer two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia clashed with police in downtown Cairo, just hours after a parliamentary committee approved the deal.

Witnesses said plainclothes policemen moved late on Tuesday to disperse dozens of protesters soon after they emerged from inside the headquarters of the Egyptian Press Syndicate, the Journalists’ Union, and gathered on the steps outside chanting anti-government slogans.

Before the violence broke out, the protesters were chanting slogans against Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi, Egypt’s general-turned-president. “Down with military rule,” they screamed.

They were on the steps for several minutes before police attacked them with witnesses saying the officers punched and kicked protesters and beat them with sticks.

The controversial agreement for Cairo to hand over two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia passed an Egyptian parliamentary committee on Tuesday, setting the stage for a vote in the house.

Parliament’s legislative committee agreed the treaty after heated debate, with opponents even interrupting one session with chanting.

The agreement passed with 35 lawmakers for and eight against, member of parliament Mostafa Bakry told AFP news agency.

Parliament’s defence committee will also examine the accord before it goes to a general parliamentary vote.

INTERACTIVE: Islands of contention – Tiran and Sanafir

Courts had struck down the agreement, signed in April 2016, but a year later another court upheld it.

The government has said the Tiran and Sanafir islands were Saudi to begin with, but were leased to Egypt in the 1950s.

Opponents of the agreement insist the islands are Egyptian and argue that the accord violates the constitution, which bars the surrender of any territory.

The accord had sparked rare protests in Egypt, with President Sisi accused of having bartered the islands of Tiran and Sanafir for Saudi largesse.

The agreement was announced during a high-profile visit to Cairo in April 2016 by Saudi King Salman, during which the monarch announced a multibillion-dollar package of investments and soft loans to Egypt.
Are two small islands owned by Egypt or Saudi Arabia?

The government’s decision to take the April 2016 agreement to parliament came at a time when relations between Cairo and Riyadh had just emerged from months of tension over differences in approach to regional flashpoints like Syria and Yemen.

Over the past two months, Sisi visited Saudi Arabia twice.

Last week, the two regional powers joined allies the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in cutting diplomatic ties with Qatar and closed their air, sea and land borders to the country, accusing it of supporting “extremists” and Iran, charges Qatar calls “baseless”.

The decision to cede control of the islands to the Saudis sparked street protests in April last year, the largest since Sisi took office via military coup in June 2014, and a parliamentary vote to ratify the deal is likely to lead to a fresh round of unrest and could set the legislative and judiciary on a collision course.

Source: News agencies

Will Hamas survive the Gulf crisis?

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The resistance movement’s options in the post-Gulf crisis period seem to be extremely limited.

The presence of the movement’s leaders in Gaza after the recent internal elections gives Hamas a margin it can rely on to circumvent the current crisis [Reuters]

The Gaza-based Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, is facing a new and harsh reality in light of the recent Gulf crisis between Qatar and several Gulf countries.

The resistance movement, which has administered Gaza since 2007, did not previously anticipate that the presence of some of its leaders in Qatar would constitute a matter of concern. Qatar’s embrace of the movement, by hosting some of its political leaders in Doha, provided some security and stability for Hamas to build its political platforms and regional relations.

Over the past few years, Hamas has been able to adapt to the Arab region’s reality, in light of the popular uprisings that swept the region, and it survived – albeit with many losses – the sharp turning points that exhausted the movement and affected its alliances and capabilities. The current crisis, however, seems to be the most difficult in the movement’s history.

For the first time since its inception, Hamas is facing both an internal and an external crisis, and finds itself facing a barrage of events, like a storm, without having the power to secure its place.

Internally, Hamas is facing mounting pressure with the deteriorating living situation in the besieged Gaza Strip, compounded by the Palestinian Authority’s recent decisions to cut electricity supply and medicine as a result of the stalled political crisis between Hamas and the PA.

When the US President Donald Trump made his remarks last month, labelling Hamas a “terrorist organisation” during a summit in the Saudi capital Riyadh, Hamas mistakenly thought it was nothing more than a conventional statement in the world of politics.

But the movement was taken aback by the Gulf crisis that has placed the expulsion of its leaders from Qatar on the top of the agenda for solving the crisis. Hamas officials were also shocked by the recent Saudi foreign minister’s statements which characterised it as a “terrorist movement”.

Hamas has realised that a preplanned campaign was being implemented and that a new reality was being created in the region forcing it to re-examine its presence and political position on the external level.

In the new anti-Hamas atmosphere forming in the Arab region, Hamas’ options are dwindling in an unprecedented manner.

Hamas has lost its Islamist allies, which formed the backbone of its future hopes and aims; the movement lost its Iranian ally when the Syrian uprising broke out and Hamas chose to ally with the anti-government camp, leaving the movement with its Qatari ally.

it also lost its financial resources by the closure of the tunnels and the tightening of the Israeli blockade on the Strip.

Despite that, Hamas’ perseverance and its military might in Gaza have allowed it to maintain its momentum over the years. But Hamas may no longer be able to sustain itself, for the factors which allowed it to continue may no longer be sufficient in the face of a multi-pronged plan.

Possible scenarios

Hamas is aware that the Gulf crisis may stifle the movement, but the presence of the movement’s upper echelons in Gaza after the recent internal elections, in which Gaza-based Ismail Haniya was elected head of the movement’s political bureau, gives Hamas a margin it can rely on to circumvent the current crisis and come out of it with minimal losses.

The movement’s options in the post-Gulf crisis period seem to be extremely limited.

Previously, Hamas was not prepared to entertain any idea related to the normalisation of relations with Abbas and Fatah in recent days. The political and media wars between the two parties have reached a dangerous level. This comes against the backdrop of pressure exerted by Abbas to give up governance in Gaza to the PA, and allowing the unity government to perform its functions in Gaza without obstacles.

But turning to Abbas and Fatah no longer seems to be a matter of choice for the resistance movement. Resolving the conflict between Fatah and Hamas could cast a positive light on the external crisis that Hamas is facing.

The Hamas delegation’s visit to Egypt, headed by Yahya al-Sinwar, the movement’s leader in Gaza, could offer an opportunity to restore its national balance and internal stability.

The Egyptian advice given to the movement was focused on ending the division between Fatah and Hamas as quickly as possible.

There is no doubt that the negative legacy of the internal Palestinian division is complex. However, the complication of the regional and international scene makes reconciliation with Abbas and Fatah the better of two evils for the movement, according to its vision.

Despite the risks associated with its alliance with Iran, Hamas is not in a position to abandon its Iranian ally, which is expected to provide financial support for its programmes and activities.

The relations are expected to grow even warmer in the coming period.

There are two potential scenarios that may arise for Hamas in the current stage.

The first scenario would see Hamas completely depend on Iran and make no moves to emerge from the current political deadlock by reconciling with Abbas and Fatah.

There is no doubt that this scenario completely disregards the regional and international changes taking place, and contains challenges that the Hamas movement would not be able to take on.

In this case, it would not be unlikely to see a tightening of the blockade on the movement, and the possible official designation as a “terrorist” movement, to the point where it would be subject to a painful Israeli military attack in Gaza.

As for the second scenario – which is the most likely one – is that Hamas will lean towards political accommodation and reach a compromise deal with Abbas and Fatah that will allow the return of PA power in Gaza again. This option will not mean a disintegration of Hamas’ alliance with Iran.

Instead, it could ease regional and international pressures against the movement to the lowest possible level, and avoid the disastrous consequences of an Israeli military raid on Gaza.

In short, Hamas today is in a race against time to escape the coming storm and to rectify the dangers of the recent developments. It will now be forced to determine the direction it will take in dealing with the current political circumstances and its repercussions.

Source: Al Jazeera

Bahrain Lawyer arrested for suing over Qatar blockade

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Prominent human rights activist says Bahrain’s constitution outlaws imposing sanctions on fellow Gulf bloc countries

Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa joined the blockade on Qatar along with other Gulf nations [Hamad I Mohammed/Reuters]

A prominent human rights lawyer in Bahrain has been arrested after launching a lawsuit against the government over its restrictions imposed on neighbouring Qatar.

Issa Faraj Arhama al-Burshaid was detained after challenging Manama’s sanctions, which include blocking Qataris from staying in the country along with other economic penalties.

He filed the case with the Supreme Administrative Court in Manama against the Cabinet, Interior Ministry and Foreign Ministry.

 

He described the measures taken by his country against Qatar as “arbitrary”.

“This siege has broken up family ties and hurt all Bahraini families,” said Burshaid. “The decision to cut diplomatic relations violates Bahrain’s constitution and laws.”
Qatar Airways chief: Air blockade ‘unfair and illegal’

Bahrain on Thursday declared it a crime – punishable by imprisonment of up to five years and a fine – to show “sympathy or favouritism” to Qatar or to object in any way to Bahrain’s decision to break relations and impose economic and border restrictions on its neighbour.

The United Arab Emirates made a similar move – with a possible 15-year penalty – prohibiting criticism of its government or sympathy towards Qatar “whether it be through the means of social media, or any type of written, visual or verbal form”.

Bahrain’s director-general of the Anti-Corruption and Financial and Electronic Security agency said Burshaid was arrested because materials were posted on social media that “damage the social fibre and national unity”.

The Ministry of the Interior issued a statement on June 8 saying any sympathy to the government of Qatar – or objection to measures by Bahrain published on social media or otherwise – is a punishable crime.

The director-general said the necessary legal measures are being finalised to bring Burshaid’s case to prosecutors.

The Bahraini lawyer argued the sanctions against Qatar violate articles of Bahrain’s constitution, which clearly indicates the country must maintain economic unity among Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states.

Burshaid also noted the constitution prohibits imposing any bans on Qataris.

 

He said accusations of Qatar “supporting terrorism” must be dealt with by the UN Security Council, not by just a few nations.

While the ban on Qataris staying in Bahrain breaks families up in the two countries, it also imposes restrictions on the free movement of Bahraini citizens, Burshaid said.

Gulf Cooperation Council members Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Bahrain along with Egypt severed ties with Qatar on June 5, accusing it of fomenting regional unrest, supporting “terrorism”, and getting too close to Iran, all of which Doha denies.
Qatar ‘sympathisers’ in the Gulf threatened under cybercrimes laws

Source: Al Jazeera News

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