Palestinian Muslims slam Israeli regime’s new racist restrictions on Christians

News Network
April 24, 2022

Palestinian resistance groups have spoken up in support of Christians’ religious freedom, condemning the Israeli regime’s new restrictions on the number of Christians wishing to visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for the Holy Fire ceremony.

Christians celebrated their Holy Fire ceremony at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City of al-Quds on Saturday, following the imposition of an incendiary limit on attendance this year that the regime in Tel Aviv claimed was for safety reasons.

The move provoked a backlash, with Christian leaders rejecting Israeli pretexts for capping attendance and saying the restrictions infringe on religious freedom.

In a statement on Friday, Palestinian resistance movement Hamas said the interference of Israeli courts in the religious affairs of Palestinians exposes the “racist nature” of the regime and refutes its “allegations regarding the freedom of worship for everyone.”

“We condemn the Israeli occupation supreme court’s ruling to limit the number of Christians allowed to visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre” for the Holy Fire ceremony, the statement said.

“We stress that the Palestinian people have the right and willpower to defend their sacred Muslim and Christian sites. No Israeli schemes will deter our people from doing so at any cost,” it added.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another major Gaza-based resistance movement, also denounced the Israeli restrictions as a “blatant violation” of freedom of worship and an attack on Islamic and Christian sanctities in occupied al-Quds.

In a statement on Saturday, the group also called for the unity of all Palestinians to confront the Tel Aviv regime’s continued aggression and to “defend the right of our people” to worship and exercise their religious freedom, Palestine Today reported.

These practices will not affect the steadfastness and determination of the Palestinian people and their adherence to their land, it added.

Earlier this month, the Greek Patriarchate said it was “fed up with [Israeli] police restrictions on freedom to worship” and that it “has decided, by the power of the Lord, that it will not compromise its right to provide spiritual services in all churches and squares.”

Like al-Aqsa Mosque, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is governed by a decades-old set of informal arrangements known as the status quo. The Israeli violations of those arrangements have angered Christians, as is the case in al-Aqsa with Muslim worshipers.

The al-Aqsa Mosque compound has been at the center of weeks of heightened Israeli violence against Palestinian worshipers since the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan, which started early in April.

Israeli forces have killed at least 19 Palestinians, including three boys and three women, and injured hundreds more there in recent weeks.

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News Network
March 21,2024

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Israeli military siege, hunger, and diseases will soon become the main killer in Gaza, says commissioner- general of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).

Philippe Lazzarini, who heads the UNRWA for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, took to X on Wednesday to vent his concern for the growing hunger and spread of diseases as a result of the Israeli siege on the besieged strip.

He said starvation and illness may soon be the main killer in Gaza.

"This fabricated and catastrophic level of hunger can still be reversed by flooding Gaza with food and life-saving assistance," Lazzarini said.

"More than ever humanity requires political will,” the UNRWA chief added.

In a press release on March 19, UNRWA said that “famine is imminent in the Gaza Strip, especially for isolated populations in northern Gaza deprived of humanitarian aid.”

The statement noted that the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), in a latest food security outlook, concluded that up to 1.1 million people in Gaza are facing catastrophic levels of food insecurity.

“Nutrition screenings conducted in February by UNICEF and UNRWA show that rates of acute malnutrition among children in northern Gaza and Rafah have nearly doubled since January,” it said.

The Israeli regime has accused UNRWA staff of being involved in the October 7 attack by the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas against the occupied territories, prompting a number of its western allies to suspend funding for the UN agency.

On Wednesday, an agreement was reached by US congressional leaders and the White House on a massive funding bill will continue a ban on US funding for UNRWA until March 2025, Reuters reported.

Earlier this year the US, Canada, Australia, Britain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Finland, Estonia, Japan, Austria and Romania  decided to cut their funding to the UNRWA, considered a lifeline for the Palestinians in Gaza.

France had also announced that it does not plan a new payment to fund UNRWA in the first quarter of 2024.

Condemning the suspension of funding, Lazzarini had said, “It would be immensely irresponsible to sanction an agency and an entire community…, especially at a time of war, displacement and political crises in the region.”

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News Network
March 28,2024

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Mangaluru, Mar 28: A fish meal factory in the Baikampady Industrial area in Mangaluru was gutted in a fire incident on Thursday, officials said.

The factory is owned by the company 'Shihar Enterprises', they said.

According to the locals, the fire was first noticed at 4.45 am today, which was immediately reported to the fire department.

The fire engines reached the spot and tried to douse the fire, but it had already spread to other parts of the factory. After almost four hours of fire-fighting operation, the blaze was completely doused, officials.

The reason for the blaze is still being probed, the fire department officials said, adding that they suspect an electric short circuit could have triggered it.

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News Network
March 22,2024

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The start of the world’s most lucrative cricket tournament in India is presenting investors with another big opportunity to cash in on the sport, months after the world’s most populous nation hosted the Cricket World Cup.

The eight-week long Indian Premier League begins March 22 for its 17th season. Since its inception, the fast-paced cricket tournament has become a corporate juggernaut to rival the National Football League in the US and the English Premier League in value.

Just as October’s Cricket World Cup boosted consumption in India for months, fans are expected to flock to restaurants, pubs and food delivery platforms over the duration of the tournament. This year’s IPL also coincides with general elections that will last for six weeks starting April 19, a period when companies are expecting higher food and drink sales as people flock to rallies and other events.

“There’s going to be a lot of spending,” said Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at Bank of Baroda. “IPL, as well as the election, gives a three-month corridor with enhanced economic activity.”

Stocks in India such as McDonald’s franchise operator Westlife Foodworld Ltd. and peer Sapphire Foods India Ltd. gained ahead of the first match on Friday, as well as hotels and beverage makers. Packaged-food companies could also stand to benefit from the IPL craze, said Sachil Bobade, an analyst at investment firm Dolat Capital Market.

The IPL ecosystem was valued at $11 billion (Rs 91,721 crores) in 2023, including the value of media rights and sponsorships, according to Indian valuation consulting firm D&P Advisory.

The league is also attracting record sums of money from sponsors and broadcasters. Conglomerate Tata Group won the title sponsorship rights of the tournament in January for a record 25 billion rupees ($300 million). Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s media venture secured the digital streaming rights in 2022 for five years for $2.7 billion, while Walt Disney Co. paid roughly the same for TV rights.

“There was a serious amount of bidding even this year,” said Vinit Karnik, head of entertainment, esports and sports at media agency GroupM South Asia. “I see growth in IPL in double digits year-on-year,” he adds.

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