Human Rights

24 June 2021; MEMO: Fatah and Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas thwarted reconciliation efforts when he cancelled the general elections, the Deputy Head of Hamas' Political Bureau Saleh Al-Arouri said yesterday.

24 June 2021; MEMO: The Palestinian resistance in the besieged Gaza Strip has said that it will not agree to have Qatari aid for Palestinian families living in poverty be channeled through the UN, Arabi21 reported.

Quoting a prominent source from the Palestinian resistance, Arabi21 said that the Palestinians in Gaza are thinking of boycotting the UN Envoy to the Peace Process Tor Wennesland.

23 June 2021; MEMO: Israel signed a statement presented to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHCR) yesterday urging China to allow independent observers access to its western Xinjiang region, where UN experts say nearly a million Uyghurs and other minorities have been unlawfully detained in camps.

The decision, the first of its kind by Israel, came after pressure from US President Joe Biden's administration, Walla news reported.

23 June 2021; MEMO: Amnesty International slammed Greek authorities for the torture, ill-treatment and illegal pushback of migrants and refugees to Turkey.

In a report titled "Greece: Violence, lies, and pushbacks", Amnesty reported that pushbacks, on land and at sea, sometimes involved people apprehended as far as 700 kilometeres within Greek territory.

The rights group described 21 incidents that involved around 1,000 people.

23 June 2021; MEMO: Israeli occupation police yesterday banned Member of the Higher Committee for Arabs of the Negev, Sheikh Osama Al-Uqbi, from praying at Al-Aqsa Mosque for one week, Arab48 reported.

During this time, Sheikh Al-Uqbi will be under investigation and the ban could be extended, the news site added.

23 June 2021; MEMO: Facebook blocked former Mauritanian Minister Sidi Mohamed Ould Maham from posting on his page after he welcomed Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh who is visiting Nouakchott, Safa news agency reported yesterday.

The former official welcomed Haniyeh and the accompanying delegation who arrived in the country to hold meetings with several popular and official figures.

23 June 2021; MEMO: A court in Egypt has brought a new case against outspoken Egyptian political asylee Aly Hussin Mahdy, over false news charges.

23 June 2021; MEMO: Two extremist members of the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, raided the Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah on Tuesday afternoon and told three Palestinian families that they had to leave their homes, Wafa news agency has reported. The two MKs were Bezalel Smotrich and Orit Strock from the far-right Religious Zionism Party, accompanied by a number of illegal Jewish settlers and protected by Israeli police officers.

Mathura, Jun 22 (PTI) A Hindu outfit on Tuesday moved a Mathura court offering a piece of land larger than the one on which the 17th century Shahi Masjid stands allegedly inside the Katra Keshav Dev temple complex if the mosque's management committee agrees to voluntarily demolish the Mughal era shrine on its own.

Kochi, June 22 (PTI) The Kerala High Court on Tuesday stayed the operation of two recent orders of the Lakshadweep administration--to close down dairy farms and remove meat products, including chicken from the menu of midday meals for school children.

The stay order was issued by a Division bench, comprising Chief Justice S Manikumar and Justice Shaji P Chaly on a PIL filed by a lawyer from the Islands.