KABUL: As night falls in Afghanistan, many young Afghan men rush home for fear of falling prey to criminal activities, which are still rife in the country’s major cities that remain untouched by insurgency.
Now and then, however, one can spot a few women driving in certain urban areas of the country.
Their freedom to do so was won after the ouster of the Taliban. The hardline Islamist group held power over the majority of the country from 1996 to 2001, and imposed strict rules on women in that time, including banning them from education and outdoor activities. Those who opposed the group’s orders were publicly flogged.
And even the liberties enjoyed by Afghan women since the Taliban were removed from power are in no way comparable to the freedom which they enjoyed for decades prior to the civil war in the 1990s when they were at the forefront in several areas.
Today, Afghan women can run their own businesses, go to the gym and swimming pools allocated for women, and ride bicycles in public. Several have earned accolades for the country in the sports, fashion, and entertainment sectors. The number of women who hold senior government positions is unprecedented in Afghanistan’s history.
But there are fears that all of that might be a thing of the past with the Taliban slowly working its way back into the government.
On the eve of International Women's Day on March 8, several women told Arab News that they are concerned about their futures, as peace talks between the insurgents and US representatives gain momentum.
The dialogue in Doha, Qatar — which will likely grant the Taliban some representation in the government — is based on the condition that Washington withdraws its troops from Afghanistan. Women are excluded from the discussions.
There have been calls for Washington — which has taken credit for the Taliban's ouster and the “empowerment” of women in Afghanistan — not to sideline women’s rights in order to finalize a deal.
“It’s far from clear — despite some of the rhetoric — that the Taliban has any intention of ensuring a place for women in negotiations,” Belquis Ahmadi, a well-known Afghan women rights activist wrote recently. “It is also uncertain whether the United States, faced with the realities of trying to wind down the war, is in a position to do much about it, assuming the US even has the will to try. This has left Afghan women fearing abandonment after years of posting extraordinary gains in every area of public life."
To preserve those gains, and block the insurgents from restricting women’s rights, she wrote, “Afghans negotiating with the Taliban, as well as the international community, must take the red lines set down by Afghan women seriously."
Days ahead of her letter, the government convened a large gathering of female representatives from around the country in Kabul. Those women delivered a clear message, stating that they “want peace, but not at the cost of our rights.”
Afghan-born Zalmay Khalilzad is leading the talks with the Taliban as Washington’s Special Envoy for Afghanistan. He has been criticized by some local women activists who claim he is ignoring the rights of Afghan women.
The chiding prompted his wife, Cheryl Benard, who is the Director of Metis Analytics and the author of “Civil Democratic Islam” to respond, saying that it was not the responsibility of America to ensure the rights of Afghan women.
“As women in Western civilization, we didn’t get our rights because people from a different culture far away felt sorry for us and sent their soldiers and tons of their money to lift us out of oppression,” Benard, who was born in 1953, wrote. “We got our rights through a lengthy and difficult struggle, by proving our capabilities and our worth and by perseverance. Every step of it was hard — the right to vote, the right to study, the right to work, the right to not be beaten by one's husband, the right to own property. Advancement toward greater justice, fairness and inclusion is a process every society has to go through on its own.”
She expressed concern that some Afghan women seemed to be against the withdrawal of US troops, not out of concern for the troops, but for themselves.
“Emancipation and equality aren’t the product of pity or guilt, and you aren’t owed them by someone else’s army or taxpayer dollars. Seventeen years, 2,500 dead Americans and $126 billion are enough. More is not only unjustified but wouldn't achieve the desired outcome anyway,” she wrote.
Her article drew criticism from several commentators in Afghanistan, with Muqadesa Yourish, a prominent women's rights activist, saying that women should be included in the peace talks.
“Time to think of women as strategic partners in the peace process, not mere victims or recipients of peace," she said in a tweet.
Mawlavi Qalamuddin, a former Taliban minister who is a member of the peace council claimed that the Taliban will give women their rights according to Islam. "I know that Afghan women want what Islam has ordered for them as their due right and the Taliban will give them all of those rights," he said while speaking at a debate with media last week.
Some local women have stated that they are against any peace deal with the Taliban, but supporters of the peace process point out that men with alleged record of grave human-rights violations and abuses have already been accommodated in the government, so excluding the Taliban on those grounds seems inconsistent.
Among many cases, they point out at Zarifa Ghafari, the mayor of Maidan Shehr city in Maidan Wardak province, who was kept from assuming her office for nearly eight months by influential male authority figures in the government.
Nasrin Gul, a 45-year-old tailor, said that attaining peace for Afghanistan was the most important goal.
“Not everyone serving in this government is good and not all the Taliban are bad,” Gul, who hails from the eastern Nangarhar province, told Arab News. “We should not accept any deviation under the name of democracy and we should also not allow people to give their orders in the name of Islam. The Taliban are not the Taliban of 17 years ago; they have learned and changed. So let us not sacrifice peace for our personal goals and demands.”
Zakia Wardak, a prominent politician, said that Afghan women are not scared of the Taliban, but are concerned over the group’s ideals.
“The Taliban do not (instill) fear but they bring unknown, with a feeling of uncertainty and pain from the past that women endured, which gets misinterpreted as fear,” she said.
Afghan women reach for the veil as Taliban re-emerges
Afghan women reach for the veil as Taliban re-emerges
- Taliban’s resurgence comes after progress in peace talks between the group's representatives and the US
- Many women fear for their rights as hardliners return
Norway, Ireland and Spain to formally recognize Palestine as a state
- Leaders of the European countries say Palestinian state recognition to take effect on May 28
- Israel recalls envoys to Ireland and Norway over their moves to recognize a Palestinian state
COPENHAGEN: Norway, Spain and Ireland are formally recognizing Palestine as a state, the countries’ leaders said on Wednesday.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said: “There cannot be peace in the Middle East if there is no recognition.”
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez also announced that the country’s council of ministers would recognize an independent Palestinian state on Tuesday May 28.
“Next Tuesday, May 28, Spain’s cabinet will approve the recognition of the Palestinian state,” he said, adding that his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu was putting the two state solution in “danger” with his policy of “pain and destruction” in the Gaza Strip.
Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris said it was a move coordinated with Spain and Norway, “an historic and important day for Ireland and for Palestine.”
Several European Union countries have in the past weeks indicated that they plan to make the recognition, arguing a two-state solution is essential for lasting peace in the region.
Israel recalled envoys to Ireland and Norway over their moves to recognize a Palestinian state.
“Today, I am sending a sharp message to Ireland and Norway: Israel will not go over this in silence. I have just ordered the return of the Israeli ambassadors from Dublin and Oslo to Israel for further consultations in Jerusalem,” Foreign Minister Israel Katz said in a statement.
Sanchez said in March that Spain and Ireland, along with Slovenia and Malta, had agreed to take their first steps toward Palestinian recognition, seeing a two-state solution as essential for lasting peace.
The efforts come as a mounting death toll in Gaza from Israel’s offensive to rout Hamas prompts calls globally for a ceasefire and lasting solution for peace in the region.
Norway, which is not a member of the European Union but mirror its moves, has been an ardent supporter of a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians.
“The terror has been committed by Hamas and militant groups who are not supporters of a two-state solution and the state of Israel,” the Norwegian government leader said.
“Palestine has a fundamental right to an independent state,” Gahr Store told a press conference.
The move comes as Israeli forces have led assaults on the northern and southern edges of the Gaza Strip in May, causing a new exodus of hundreds of thousands of people, and sharply restricted the flow of aid, raising the risk of famine.
The Scandinavian country “will therefore regard Palestine as an independent state with all the rights and obligations that entails,” Gahr Store said.
Norway’s recognition of a Palestine state comes more than 30 years after the first Oslo agreement was signed in 1993.
Since then, “the Palestinians have taken important steps toward a two-state solution,” the Norwegian government said.
It said that the World Bank determined that Palestine had met key criteria to function as a state in 2011, that national institutions have been built up to provide the population with important services.
“The war in Gaza and the constant expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank still mean that the situation in Palestine is more difficult than it has been in decades,” the Norwegian government said.
China to continue to strengthen ties with Iran, state media says
- “Iran has lost outstanding leaders and China has lost good friends and partners, said Wang, according to Xinhua news
BEIJING: China will continue to strengthen strategic cooperation with Iran, safeguard common interests, and make endeavors for regional and world peace, Chinese state media reported on Tuesday, citing comments from Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
Wang made the remarks in talks on Tuesday with Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Mahdi Safari, while attending a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
“Iran has lost outstanding leaders and China has lost good friends and partners, said Wang, according to Xinhua news. “In this difficult time, China firmly stands by Iranian friends,” he said, referring to the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Sunday.
Shaken passengers arrive in Singapore after turbulence-hit flight
- The airline said the aircraft was a Boeing 777-300ER with a total of 211 passengers and 18 crew on board
- A 73-year-old British passenger died of a suspected heart attack and at least 30 people were injured
SINGAPORE: More than 140 passengers and crew from a Singapore Airlines flight hit by heavy turbulence that left dozens injured and one dead finally reached Singapore on a relief flight Wednesday morning after an emergency landing in Bangkok.
The scheduled London-Singapore flight on a Boeing 777-300ER plane diverted to Bangkok after the plane was buffeted by turbulence that flung passengers and crew around the cabin, slamming some into the ceiling.
A 73-year-old British passenger died of a suspected heart attack and at least 30 people were injured.
“I saw people from across the aisle going completely horizontal, hitting the ceiling and landing back down in like really awkward positions. People, like, getting massive gashes in the head, concussions,” Dzafran Azmir, a 28-year-old student on board the flight told Reuters after arriving in Singapore.
Photographs from the interior of the plane showed gashes in the overhead cabin panels, oxygen masks and panels hanging from the ceiling and luggage strewn around. A passenger said some people’s heads had slammed into the lights above the seats and punctured the panels.
Singapore Airlines took 131 passengers and 12 crew on the relief flight from Bangkok that reached Singapore just before 5 a.m. (2100 GMT). There were 211 passengers including many Australians, British and Singaporeans, and 18 crew on board the original flight; injured fliers and their families remained in Bangkok.
“On behalf of Singapore Airlines, I would like to express my deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of the deceased,” Singapore Airlines CEO Goh Choon Phong said in a video message.
Singapore’s Transport Safety Investigation Bureau (TSIB) is looking into the incident, and the US National Transportation Safety Board is also sending representatives for support.
The plane encountered sudden extreme turbulence, Goh said, and the pilot then declared a medical emergency and diverted to Bangkok.
Aircraft tracking provider FlightRadar 24 said at around 0749 GMT the flight encountered “a rapid change in vertical rate, consistent with a sudden turbulence event,” based on flight tracking data.
“There were thunderstorms, some severe, in the area at the time,” it said.
The sudden turbulence occurred over the Irrawaddy Basin in Myanmar about 10 hours into the flight, the airline said. Turbulence has many causes, most obviously the unstable weather patterns that trigger storms, but this flight could have been affected by clear air turbulence, which is very difficult to detect.
Turbulence-related airline accidents are the most common type of accident, according to a 2021 NTSB study.
While the airline said 30 people were injured, Samitivej Hospital in Thailand said it was treating 71 passengers.
From 2009 through 2018, the US agency found that turbulence accounted for more than a third of reported airline accidents and most resulted in one or more serious injuries, but no aircraft damage.
Singapore Airlines, which is widely recognized as one of the world’s leading airlines and is a benchmark for much of the industry, has not had any major incidents in recent years.
Its last accident resulting in casualties was a flight from Singapore to Los Angeles via Taipei, where it crashed on Oct. 31, 2000 at the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, killing 83 of the 179 people on board.
Over 1 million claims related to toxic exposure granted under new veterans law, Biden announces
- In raw numbers, more than 1 million claims have been granted to veterans since Biden signed the so-called PACT Act into law in August 2022, the administration said Tuesday
NASHUA, N.H.: President Joe Biden, aiming to highlight his legislative accomplishments this election year, traveled to New Hampshire on Tuesday to discuss how he’s helped military veterans get benefits as a result of burn pit or other toxic exposure during their service.
“We can never fully thank you for all the sacrifices you’ve made,” Biden said to the veterans and their families gathered at a YMCA. “In America, we leave no veteran behind. That’s our motto.”
In raw numbers, more than 1 million claims have been granted to veterans since Biden signed the so-called PACT Act into law in August 2022, the administration said Tuesday. That amounts to about 888,000 veterans and survivors in all 50 states who have been able to receive disability benefits under the law.
That totals about $5.7 billion in benefits given to veterans and their survivors, according to the administration.
“The president, I think, has believed now for too long, too many veterans who got sick serving and fighting for our country had to fight the VA for their care, too,” Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough told reporters on Monday. PACT stands for “Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics.”
The PACT Act is relatively lower profile compared to the president’s other legislative accomplishments — such as a bipartisan infrastructure law and a sweeping tax, climate and health care package — but it is one that is deeply personal for Biden.
He has blamed burn pits for the brain cancer that killed his son, Beau, who served in Iraq, and has vowed repeatedly that he would get the PACT Act into law. Burn pits are where chemicals, tires, plastics, medical equipment and human waste were disposed of on military bases and were used in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Before the law, the Department of Veterans Affairs denied 70 percent of disability claims that involved burn pit exposure. Now, the law requires the VA to assume that certain respiratory illnesses and cancers were related to burn pit or other toxic exposure without veterans having to prove the link.
Before Biden’s planned remarks, he went to a Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Merrimack, New Hampshire. The president met there with Lisa Clark, an Air Force veteran who is receiving benefits through the PACT Act because her late husband, Senior Master Sergeant Carl Clark, was exposed to the chemical herbicide Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.
Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana, marked the milestone by praising the veterans who advocated for the law.
“For far too long, our nation failed to honor its promises to our veterans exposed to toxins in military conflicts across the globe— until we fought like hell alongside veterans to finally get the PACT Act signed into law,” Tester, chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, said.
Blinken says he’ll work with US Congress to respond to ICC move on Gaza
- The United States is not a member of the court, but has supported past prosecutions, including the ICC’s decision last year to issue an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine
WASHINGTON: The Biden administration is willing to work with Congress to respond to the International Criminal Court prosecutor’s request for arrest warrants for Israeli leaders over the Gaza war, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday, amid Republican calls for US sanctions against court officials.
Speaking at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, Blinken called the move “profoundly wrong-headed” and said it would complicate the prospects of reaching a hostage deal and a ceasefire in Israel’s conflict with the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
ICC prosecutor Karim Khan said on Monday he had reasonable grounds to believe that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s defense chief and three Hamas leaders “bear criminal responsibility” for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Both President Joe Biden, a Democrat, and his political opponents have sharply criticized Khan’s announcement, arguing the court does not have jurisdiction over the Gaza conflict and raising concerns over process.
The United States is not a member of the court, but has supported past prosecutions, including the ICC’s decision last year to issue an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine.
“We’ll be happy to work with Congress, with this committee, on an appropriate response” to the ICC move, Blinken said on Tuesday.
He did not say what a response to the ICC move might include.
In a later hearing, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham told Blinken he hoped to work together with the administration to express the United States’ opposition to the ICC prosecutor.
“What I hope to happen is that we level sanctions against the ICC for this outrage, to not only help our friends in Israel but protect ourself over time,” said Graham.
Republican members of Congress have previously threatened legislation to impose sanctions on the ICC, but a measure cannot become law without support from President Joe Biden and his fellow Democrats, who control the Senate.
In 2020, then-President Donald Trump’s administration accused the ICC of infringing on US national sovereignty when it authorized an investigation into war crimes committed in Afghanistan. The US targeted court staff, including then-prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, with asset freezes and travel bans.
