IRBIL: All foreign flights to and from the Iraqi Kurdish capital Irbil will be suspended from Friday, officials said, as Baghdad increases pressure on the Kurds over this week’s independence referendum.
The move by the Iraqi central government marks the first major step taken in retaliation for Monday’s vote, which delivered a resounding 92.7 percent “yes.”
An extended suspension of flights would have significant consequences for the Kurds, who have turned Irbil into a regional transport hub that is home to a large international community.
The non-binding referendum in the three provinces of Iraqi Kurdistan and some disputed areas was held in defiance of Baghdad, which declared it illegal, and despite international objections.
Turkey, also home to a large Kurdish minority, is especially concerned and has threatened a series of measures to isolate the Iraqi Kurds.
Talar Faiq Salih, Irbil airport director, told AFP that all international flights to and from the city would stop from 6:00 p.m. (1500 GMT) on Friday following a decision by the Iraqi cabinet.
Qatar Airways was the latest airline to announce all flights to and from the Kurdish region would be canceled starting Saturday. Lebanon’s Middle East Airlines, EgyptAir and Royal Jordanian announced on Wednesday that flights would be suspended beginning Friday evening.
Low-cost carrier FlyDubai said it is halting flights from Saturday. And Sharjah-based Air Arabia said it will “temporarily suspend its flights” from Saturday.
A civil aviation official in Baghdad said the measure applied to the airports in Irbil and the region’s second-largest city Sulaimaniyah. Baghdad has demanded the airports be handed over to central authorities.
A decision on whether to also suspend domestic flights would be made after Friday, the official said.
Salih said she deeply regretted the decision, which she said would hamper the campaign against Daesh in Iraq and Syria, as well as the delivery of aid to those displaced by it.
“We have consulates, international staff, international companies, so it’s going to affect everyone,” Salih said. “We have a big international community here, so this is not only against Kurdish people.”
Kurdish forces have been key allies in US-backed offensives against Daesh in both Syria and Iraq, and Washington had urged Irbil to postpone the referendum in the interests of that battle.
Longtime Iraqi Kurd chief Masoud Barzani went ahead anyway, and more than 3.3 million people— 72.6 percent of the electorate — flocked to polling stations to pursue a decades-old dream of statehood.
Barzani said the vote would not lead to an immediate declaration of independence, instead opening the door to negotiations, but Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi has rejected any talks on the basis on the referendum.
On Wednesday, Al-Abadi demanded the results of the vote be “annulled” and talks take place “in the framework of the constitution.”
Lawmakers on Wednesday passed a resolution calling on Al-Abadi to “take all necessary measures to maintain Iraq’s unity” including by deploying security forces to disputed areas. A similar demand had been made on Monday but there have been no signs of any deployment.
Wednesday’s resolution also called for the closure of border posts with Turkey and Iran that are outside central government control.
Analysts have said it is unlikely Baghdad will take military action in response to the vote, especially as the top priority for its forces remains the battle against Daesh.
It could coordinate efforts with Turkey however to tighten the screws on the Kurds by cutting off trade routes, including for vital oil exports.
Al-Abadi’s office said in a statement on Thursday that Ankara had told Baghdad it would deal only with the Iraqi government on oil exports.
In a phone call with Al-Abadi, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim offered support for “all Iraqi decisions to protect the country’s unity” including those “linked to limiting oil export (operations) to the Iraqi government,” the statement said.
Turkey fears the vote will inflame separatist feelings among its own Kurdish population and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had earlier threatened to block oil exports from Iraqi Kurdistan.
The Iraqi Kurds export an average 600,000 barrels per day through a pipeline running through Turkey to Ceyhan on the Mediterranean coast.
Erdogan has also warned Ankara could close its land border with Iraqi Kurdistan and even suggested the possibility of a cross-border incursion similar to one Turkey carried out against Daesh and Kurdish fighters in Syria.
A senior Iraqi government official said that there were no ongoing talks with the Kurds.
“There will be no negotiations with Kurdish leaders, neither officially nor in secret, as long as they do not declare that the results of the referendum are void and do not hand over to authorities in Baghdad the border posts, airports and disputed regions where they deployed their forces,” the official said.
Baghdad cranks up pressure on Kurds with flight ban
Baghdad cranks up pressure on Kurds with flight ban
What We Are Reading Today: ‘The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down’
“The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down: How to be Calm in a Busy World” offers advice on how to find inner peace in today’s busy world.
The 300-page book, published in 2017, was written by Haemin Sunim, a Korean Buddhist monk, and has sold more than 3 million copies.
The author underwent monastic training in South Korea before spending seven years teaching Asian religions at Hampshire College in the US. The book elaborates on the wisdom he gained from personal experiences as a Buddhist monk.
One of the book’s strengths is its simplicity. The author’s writing style is easy to understand as he presents his ideas in bite-sized chapters, each focusing on a different aspect of mindfulness.
Whether he is writing about the meaning of silence or of gratitude, Sunim’s words resonate with a quiet authority which prompts the reader to pause and reflect on their own lives.
In addition, the book is filled with amazing imagery that complements the stories. The beautiful drawings contribute to Sunim’s narrative and create a sense of serenity and peace.
The author emphasizes the concept of enjoying the little things in life to the fullest, such as drinking a cup of tea in the morning, taking a walk in nature, or having a thoughtful conversation with loved ones.
Slowing down allows people to notice the happiness hidden in even the simplest tasks and moments, he claims.
He also encourages readers to be kind to themselves and offers advice on how people can develop a deeper sense of self-acceptance and self-love, fostering emotional well-being and resilience.
Sunim’s wisdom and compassion are clear. His words remind readers that despite the noise and distractions of the modern world, true happiness can be found when they slow down.
Pakistan to send two-member delegation to Kyrgyzstan, offers free evacuation to stranded students
- The decision comes after five Pakistani students were injured in mob violence against foreign nationals in Bishkek
- Deputy PM Ishaq Dar will lead the delegation on Sunday morning to review arrangements for the return of students
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif decided to send a two-member delegation to the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek and offered free travel facilities to all Pakistani students stranded there on Saturday, following mob violence against foreign nationals enrolled in various universities that led to evacuation requests.
The violence erupted on Friday night after videos of a brawl between Kyrgyz and Egyptian students went viral online, prompting furious mobs to target hostels of medical universities and private lodgings of international students, including Pakistanis, in the city.
According to official statistics, around 10,000 Pakistani students are enrolled in various educational institutions in Kyrgyzstan, with nearly 6,000 residing and studying in Bishkek.
Speaking to Arab News on Saturday, many students reported the Pakistan embassy had advised them to stay indoors, though they had run out of food and water. Some even expressed fears that rioting might resume at night and requested evacuation by the authorities.
A statement released by the PM’s Office in the evening indicated that Sharif had directed Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar and another cabinet member, Amir Maqam, to address the situation in Bishkek.
“Both officials will depart for Bishkek early tomorrow morning [on Sunday] via a special plane,” the statement continued. “Throughout the day, the Prime Minister had been monitoring the situation and staying in contact with the Pakistani ambassador in Bishkek.”
“Despite the satisfactory situation,” it added, “the decision to send this delegation was made to ensure necessary support and facilities for Pakistani students.”
The two Pakistani officials will meet with senior government officials in the Kyrgyz capital to ensure medical treatment for injured students and review arrangements for their return.
In an earlier statement, the prime minister noted that those who wanted to return to Pakistan would be “facilitated at the government’s expense.”
Sharif also declared that his administration would not leave the students alone during such a difficult time and would remain in contact with them and their parents through the embassy.
Meanwhile, the foreign office activated its Crisis Management Unit to facilitate and assist Pakistani nationals in the Kyrgyz Republic and their families. The unit can be contacted on the following numbers: +92519203108 and +92519203094, or via email at [email protected].
The country’s ambassador to Kyrgyzstan Hasan Zaigham said earlier in the day that five Pakistani medical students had been injured in the mob attack. One student was admitted to a local hospital with a jaw injury, while the other four were released after receiving first aid.
“No Pakistani was killed or raped in the violence,” he told Arab News over the phone, dispelling rumors circulating on social media. “The situation is under control now as Bishkek authorities have dispersed all the miscreants.”
Israeli army continues drone warfare against Hezbollah
- Hezbollah said in a statement that it targeted the Ras Naqoura naval site with artillery in response to the drone strike
BEIRUT: Israel widened its drone attacks on Hezbollah and Hamas fighters in Lebanon on Saturday, with strikes near the Lebanese-Syrian border in parallel with attacks in the south of the country.
An Israeli combat drone struck a car carrying two people on the road between the Lebanese General Security and Syrian General Security checkpoints.
The Syrian Observatory confirmed the attack, saying that “the target in the car was a Hezbollah leader and his companion.”
Footage taken by passersby on the border road showed the vehicle on fire, with flames and smoke rising from surrounding areas, suggesting that more than one missile struck the target.
Sham FM radio, which is close to the Syrian regime, later confirmed that an Israeli attack destroyed a car and killed both occupants near a military checkpoint on the Damascus-Beirut highway.
Unconfirmed media reports said the military vehicle belonged to Hezbollah.
Hezbollah later launched dozens of attacks on Israeli military sites.
According to a statement, these included surveillance equipment at the Ramtha site, “technical systems and spy equipment at the Raheb site,” the headquarters of the Liman Battalion, surveillance equipment at the Hadab Yarin site, and the Al-Samaqa site in the Kfarshuba hills.
The latest attack came less than 18 hours after an Israeli drone struck a car on the Majdal Anjar road, killing a senior Hamas figure.
Izz El-Deen Al-Qassam Brigades identified the victim as Sharhabeel Ali Al-Sayyid, a mujahid leader.
Another person accompanying Ali Al-Sayyid was badly injured in the strike.
Early on Saturday, an Israeli drone struck a motorcycle on the road to Naqoura town on Lebanon’s southern border, injuring the rider, a fisherman returning home from work.
The injured man was taken to hospital in Tyre.
Hezbollah said in a statement that it targeted the Ras Naqoura naval site with artillery in response to the drone strike.
Repeated Israeli attacks have added to tension in the southern and Bekaa areas, with traffic on the main roads noticeably reduced.
Hezbollah also targeted a group of Israeli soldiers near the Pranit Barracks with missiles, causing “a direct hit,” according to the statement.
Israeli fighter planes raided the town of Khiam at dawn on Saturday, continuing their assaults on Aita Al-Shaab.
Journalists protest temporary closure of Quetta Press Club, demand media freedom inquiry
- Police locked the facility after rights activist Mahrang Baloch decided to hold a seminar at the facility
- The Balochistan Union of Journalists issued a statement, describing it as an attack on press freedom
KARACHI: Journalists in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province on Saturday condemned the temporary closure of Quetta Press Club by police, demanding an inquiry into what they called an attack on media freedom in violation of the country’s constitution.
The incident took place after the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), an ethnic rights movement led by local activist Mahrang Baloch, organized a seminar at the press club, prompting the police to lock the facility. However, supporters of the rights movement broke the lock and entered the club.
Last year, Baloch gained national visibility by leading a protest march to Islamabad, saying her objective was to bring attention to enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in her province, though the government denied the state’s involvement in any such activities.
“The Balochistan Union of Journalists strongly condemns the closure of the Quetta Press Club by the administration in harsh terms, considering it an attack on press freedom and a blatant violation of the Article 19 of the Constitution,” said a statement that called for investigation into the issue.
“The closure of the Press Club is an assault on the freedom and rights of journalists, which is unacceptable,” it added. “This move by the administration is a conspiracy to silence journalists, and we will protest vigorously against it.”
The union pointed out that journalists were already facing threats and challenges, though it added they would continue to fulfill their responsibilities and remain undeterred by such measures.
“Article 19 of Pakistan’s Constitution grants every citizen the freedom of expression, and the closure of the Press Club is a clear violation of it,” the statement continued. “The Balochistan Union of Journalists demands a high-level investigation into the matter so that journalists can fulfil their duties without fear or danger.”
When contacted, Banaras Khan, the general secretary of Quetta Press Club, told Arab News the district administration had asked the club’s administration to cancel the program, citing security reasons.
“Half of the participants came and half were on their way when the police locked the gate,” he said, adding he had refused to cancel the program.
“I informed the authorities that I wouldn’t force the participants to leave,” Khan revealed. “If the provincial administration wanted to, they could, but they should then lock the gate, and we would leave as well,” he said, highlighting his disagreement with the officials that made him warn that the journalists would vacate the premises in protest.
Shahid Rind, a Balochistan government spokesperson, said, however, it was the decision of the police, deployed outside the club for its protection, to lock the facility as a strategy to deal with the large crowd, adding the government had no intention to stop the program.
“Our position is clear,” he said. “We didn’t put any locks, nor did we want to stop the seminar.”
Rind said the organizers had mentioned in their invitations only registered participants would attend the program.
He said the gate was temporarily locked by the police.
“After that, the seminar continued throughout the day,” he added. “If we had wanted to stop the seminar, or if the state had wanted to stop it forcefully, would the seminar have been allowed to take place?”
Asian activists call out Western feminists over ‘selective empathy’ on Gaza
- Non-Western feminists say white supremacy, imperialism are inherent to Western feminism
- Seven months into Israel’s deadly war on Gaza, feminists in the West have been largely silent
JAKARTA: When Western actresses and female politicians cut their hair to protest the death of Mahsa Amini or rallied against the Taliban ban on girls’ education, they stood up to defend women’s rights. However, the zeal went missing when it came to Palestine, non-Western feminists say, denouncing their peers’ silence on Israel’s killing of women in Gaza.
Mass protests and displays of solidarity in Europe and the US broke out in 2022 and carried on into 2023 following the death in Iranian police custody of the 22-year-old Amini, who was charged with breaching hijab rules. In the same years, when the Taliban barred Afghan girls from school, women united in outcry and called for international pressure against them.
But more than seven months into Israel’s indiscriminate killing, wounding, and maiming of Palestinian civilians, the West’s mainstream feminist movement has been largely silent.
At least 35,800 people in Gaza have been killed and 80,000 wounded by Israeli airstrikes and ground offensive that have destroyed most of the enclave’s infrastructure and rendered it uninhabitable.
The majority of the dead are women and children. Many have lost their lives as most of the hospitals have been flattened by Israeli troops and no medical assistance could reach them.
The International Rescue Committee estimated last month that 37 mothers had been killed in Gaza each day and 60,000 pregnant women had no access to midwives or doctors, while tens of thousands struggled with breastfeeding as they were so malnourished due to Israel’s blockade of humanitarian aid.
In the face of the widely documented atrocities, Haein Shim, Korean activist and spokesperson of Haeil, a Seoul-based feminist group, told Arab News that Western feminists were exhibiting “selective empathy” and “double standards” with regard to Israel’s onslaught, the criticism of which has regularly been labeled as “antisemitism” — not only by Israeli authorities but by Western leaders as well.
“I strongly believe these issues are interconnected with racism, imperialism, and colonialism,” Shim said.
“We need to urge each other to break the silence and unite against occupation and subjugation, Israel’s human rights abuses and ongoing genocide. One thing to be clear: Our solidarity does not mean antisemitism but only to end the vicious genocide and violence against women and children.”
While Shim believes it is not too late for “global feminist solidarity” with women in Gaza, Fadiah Nadwa Fikri, Malaysian human rights lawyer and scholar focused on decolonization, sees an intrinsic flaw in Western feminism, which might prevent it.
“The function of Western feminism, which is inherently imperialist, is to reduce and dehumanize not only Palestinian women and children but also Palestinian men, who have been subjected to decades of Israeli settler colonialism, with the full support of US imperialism and its allies in Europe,” she said.
“It is, therefore, not surprising to witness the deafening silence of most Western feminists, who are staunch advocates of this strand of feminism, in the face of relentless imperialist violence in Gaza and all of historical Palestine. Their silence is an endorsement of the status quo.”
For Fikri, Western feminism has been shaped by “the racist narrative of the clash of civilizations,” and its silence on Gaza was merely consequential.
“We see women like Madeline Albright, Condoleezza Rice, Hilary Clinton, Kamala Harris — both white and non-white — who depict themselves as champions of women’s rights become members of the ruling classes of imperialist states that are responsible for the mass death, destruction, and suffering around the world,” she said.
“Therefore, there are no double standards of Western feminism; there is only one political standard meant to protect the interests of the imperialist ruling classes, which has been applied consistently.”
In the context of Israel and accusations of antisemitism fired against its critics, Asian feminists also cited the problem of white supremacy, which they closely linked with Zionism.
“Zionist ideologies are not just harming and discriminating against Palestinians, and the destruction of Palestine is not merely about Palestine. Zionism is about white supremacy and colonization, and the destruction of Palestine is just another example of imperialist violence inflicted by Western colonizers, aka white people,” said V., member of Chinese Feminism in Toronto, a Canada-based grassroots collective, who requested to remain anonymous.
“If we consider the sociopolitical context of North America, we know most Jews are also white people, yet we do not have the space to discuss the complexity of antisemitism and white supremacy simultaneously. I guess that speaks a lot (as to) why white feminists tend to be hypocritical here.”
Her colleague, G., also a member of the group, said that hypocrisy was also present among non-white women leaders who were “internalizing whiteness” and embracing Zionism.
“We need to understand this should not be done in our names. We need to have firm voices and expose these leaders as Zionist agents and complicit in genocide, instead of accepting the fact that our elected leaders turn complicit and no longer represent us. We need to hold them accountable,” she said.
“Decolonization is not just theory. We all need to move beyond the bystander observer position and let Palestine radicalize us. We need to continue to educate ourselves and our communities on colonial feminism/pinkwashing and purplewashing.”
Part of the struggle is debunking pro-Israel propaganda and fighting “against the utilization of antisemitism to shut down any criticism against Israeli or Zionist policies,” according to Okky Madasari, Indonesian novelist and academic, whose research focuses on knowledge production and censorship.
“There must be a unified campaign to stop believing anything coming out from the Israeli authorities. They are liars unless they are proven otherwise,” she told Arab News.
For those activists who for the past seven months have been silent over Gaza, Okky suggested that they stop using the feminism label altogether.
“You should be ashamed of yourself if you don’t speak up against Israel when you are so fussy about many other more trivial things,” she said.
“Condemning Israel and taking sides with the Palestinians is what any decent human being must do, let alone if you are a feminist.”
