CAIRO: Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayyeb, the grand imam of Al-Azhar Al-Sharif, the scientific body and largest religious institution in Egypt, said on Wednesday that Sunni Islam’s highest seat of learning will never forget the terrible period of war and persecution that Bosnia and Herzegovina experienced in the 1990s.
Speaking during a meeting with Thabet Subasic, the Balkans country’s ambassador to Egypt, he said: “The suffering of the Bosnian people is still fresh in mind. We are fully prepared to do everything possible to support the Bosnian people, strengthen their adherence to their homeland and country, and be proud of their Islamic identity.”
In April 1992, the government of the republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina declared its independence from Yugoslavia. Over the next several years, Bosnian Serb forces, with the backing of the Serb-dominated Yugoslav army, perpetrated atrocious crimes against Bosnian and Croatian civilians, resulting in the deaths of about 100,000 people by 1995, 80 percent of them Bosnian Muslims.
Al-Tayyeb said Al-Azhar has responsibility of supporting Muslim communities all around the world, especially in Europe, and helping them preserve their religious identity.
It also helps Muslims integrate positively into Western societies, he added, and “will not hesitate to provide all aspects of scientific and cultural support to these societies with our moderate approach.”
The imam stressed the important role of Bosnia and Herzegovina as an effective Islamic center on the European continent. He said Al-Azhar offers five scholarships each year to people from the country and is ready to increase this number and facilitate the enrollment of students at various levels of education. Al-Azhar Academy for Training Imams, Preachers and Fatwa Researchers also hosts and trains Bosnian imams, he added.
Ambassador Subasic extended an official invitation to Al-Tayyeb to visit his country and participate in the events next year to commemorate the 29th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre, which took place on July 11, 1995.
In the summer of that year, three places in eastern Bosnia — Srebrenica, Zepa and Gorazde — remained under the control of the Bosnian government. The UN had declared these enclaves “safe havens” in 1993, to be disarmed and protected by international peacekeeping forces.
On July 11, 1995, however, Bosnian Serb forces advanced on Srebrenica, overwhelming the Dutch peacekeepers stationed there. The Serbian forces separated the Bosnian Muslims at Srebrenica, putting women and girls onto buses that took them to Bosnian-held territory. Many women were raped or sexually assaulted.
The men and boys were killed immediately or taken to mass execution sites. Official estimates of the number of Bosnians killed by Serbian forces at Srebrenica range from about 7,000 to more than 8,000.
Subasic said that the Bosnian people rely greatly on Al-Azhar Al-Sharif, its international position, and its central role in issues relating to the Islamic nation.
He added that it has great influence on Bosnian society and that for hundreds of years, scholars from Bosnia and Herzegovina have benefited from visiting and studying at Al-Azhar Mosque, after which “they returned to our country and played a large and effective role in its development.”
He continued: “Graduates of Al-Azhar are highly valued and hold senior positions in various Bosnian institutions and bodies.”
Al-Azhar Al-Sharif will not forget agony Bosnian Muslims endured in 1990s, says grand imam
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Al-Azhar Al-Sharif will not forget agony Bosnian Muslims endured in 1990s, says grand imam
- Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayyeb told Thabet Subasic, the Balkans country’s ambassador to Egypt: ‘The suffering of the Bosnian people is still fresh in mind’
- The envoy extended an official invitation to Al-Tayyeb to visit his country and participate in the events next year to commemorate the 29th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre
Fledgling radio station aims to be ‘voice of the people’ in Gaza
- The electricity crisis is one of the most serious and difficult problems in the Gaza Strip, says Shereen Khalifa Broadcaster
DEIR EL-BALAH: From a small studio in the central city of Deir El-Balah, Sylvia Hassan’s voice echoes across the Gaza Strip, broadcast on one of the Palestinian territory’s first radio stations to hit the airwaves after two years of war.
Hassan, a radio host on fledgling station “Here Gaza,” delivers her broadcast from a well-lit room, as members of the technical team check levels and mix backing tracks on a sound deck. “This radio station was a dream we worked to achieve for many long months and sometimes without sleep,” Hassan said.
“It was a challenge for us, and a story of resilience.”
Hassan said the station would focus on social issues and the humanitarian situation in Gaza, which remains grave in the territory despite a US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas since October.
“The radio station’s goal is to be the voice of the people in the Gaza Strip and to express their problems and suffering, especially after the war,” said Shereen Khalifa, part of the broadcasting team.
“There are many issues that people need to voice.” Most of Gaza’s population of more than 2 million people were displaced at least once during the gruelling war.
Many still live in tents with little or no sanitation.
The war also decimated Gaza’s telecommunications and electricity infrastructure, compounding the challenges in reviving the territory’s local media landscape. “The electricity problem is one of the most serious and difficult problems in the Gaza Strip,” said Khalifa.
“We have solar power, but sometimes it doesn’t work well, so we have to rely on an external generator,” she added.
The station’s launch is funded by the EU and overseen by Filastiniyat, an organization that supports Palestinian women journalists, and the media center at the An-Najah National University in Nablus, in the occupied West Bank.
The station plans to broadcast for two hours per day from Gaza and for longer from Nablus. It is available on FM and online.
Khalifa said that stable internet access had been one of the biggest obstacles in setting up the station, but that it was now broadcasting uninterrupted audio.
The Gaza Strip, a tiny territory surrounded by Israel, Egypt, and the Mediterranean Sea, has been under Israeli blockade even before the attack on Oct. 7, 2023, which sparked the war. Despite the ceasefire, Israel continues to strictly control the entry of all goods and people to the territory.
“Under the siege, it is natural that modern equipment necessary for radio broadcasting cannot enter, so we have made the most of what is available,” she said.
