The South African Anglican Church’s declaration follows years of campaigning by Palestinian activists and human rights groups.

The Anglican Church in South Africa has declared Israel an “apartheid state“, following a campaign by Palestinian activists.

The Christian church’s Provincial Standing Committee approved a resolution on Wednesday defining Israel as an apartheid state and reviewing pilgrimages to the Holy Land.

Amnesty International, along with other NGOs, refers to the conditions Palestinians live under in Israeli occupation as being “apartheid”, referring to the oppressive system of racial segregation in South Africa which was in place until 1994.

“As people of faith who are distressed by the pain of the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza – and who long for security and a just peace for both Palestine and Israel – we can no longer ignore the realities on the ground,” the head of the South African Anglican Church, Archbishop Thabo Makgoba, said on his blog.

For some reason, the term ‘normalisation’ has been translated into Arabic using the word “Tatbi’”, derived from the Arabic word Tabi’i or natural, when in English, the term derives from normal, which means usual or ordinary rather than natural.

Regardless, the Israeli governments have wholeheartedly embraced the usage of this term, in no less enthusiasm than their emphasis on the peace agreements with the Arab states which they fear would remain superficial and ceremonial if relations are not also fully normalised. Indeed, the quest here is to entrench settler-colonialism in the Arab region and recast it by normalising a system of violent power and domination that contradicts all that is natural and normal. This way, the people of the region should be tamed to accept normal relations with Israel without a just solution of the issue of Palestine and to get used to occupation and apartheid.

The African nations that had boycotted South Africa, refusing to normalise relations with the apartheid regime, were much more impoverished than the Arab nations and more in need of economic ties with the abnormal entity in their neighborhood. These African states were neither more democratic nor less authoritarian than the Arab states of today, yet the Africans, both peoples and regimes, unanimously agreed on opposition to racism and colonialism.

Undoubtedly, apartheid South Africa – and Israel, which remained its staunch ally until the very end – had been a holdover of the era of colonialism. In our region, the unanimity regarding the stance on Israeli occupation, the last remaining unresolved instance of colonialism, at least inasmuch as it was once expressed publicly, has faded.

If we put aside here the moral stance – which should never be put aside except for the sake of argument – and consider instead normalization as a purportedly practical and pragmatic move, we find that in reality, even then, it is not a justification. This applies to both the countries bordering Palestine and those who were never officially part of any wars related to Palestine.

BAGHDAD, Oct 1 (Reuters) – A fire that swept through a crowded wedding hall in a northern Iraqi town killing more than 100 people was blamed on “gross negligence” and lack of safety measures, the results of a government investigation into the disaster said.

The investigation results, announced at a news conference on Sunday by Interior Minister Abdul Amir al-Shammari, said the owner of the hall and three other staff members had allowed 900 people into the venue when it was designed for a maximum of 400.

Watch: https://www.facebook.com/wally.sarkeesian/videos/275480548697311

Yaroslav Hunka was a member of the 1st Galician division, a unit of Adolf Hitler’s war machine

John Paul Tasker,

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has apologized on behalf of Canada’s Parliament after a man who fought in Adolf Hitler’s Nazi forces was included in an event last week honoring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

“This was a mistake that has deeply embarrassed Parliament and Canada. All of us who were in this House on Friday regret deeply having stood and clapped even though we did so unaware of the context,” Trudeau said in a brief statement to reporters.

“It was a horrendous violation of the memory of the millions of people who died in the Holocaust,” he said, adding the celebration of ex-soldier Yaroslav Hunka was “deeply, deeply painful” to Jewish people, Poles, Roma, the LGBT community and other racialized people in particular — some of the groups that were targeted by the Nazi regime in the Second World War.

Trudeau also said that “Canada is deeply sorry” for involving Zelenskyy, who was pictured applauding Hunka — an image that has been exploited by Russian propagandists.

Canada has sent an apology to Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian delegation through diplomatic channels, Trudeau added.

Liberal caucus sources have told CBC News that Trudeau told MPs Wednesday they should avoid speaking to the press about Hunka’s invitation and the subsequent fallout, and that the media frenzy would die down if they stayed tight-lipped.

Trudeau’s remarks come after Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said inviting Hunka to attend Zelenskyy’s historic address to Parliament is the “biggest single diplomatic embarrassment” in the country’s history.

Poilievre is blaming Trudeau for the mishap, despite outgoing Speaker Anthony Rota’s assertion that he alone was responsible for inviting Hunka.

Rota called the Ukrainian veteran a “Canadian hero” in the Commons and prompted a standing ovation.

Hunka was part of the First Ukrainian Division, also known as the Waffen-SS Galicia Division or the SS 14th Waffen Division — a voluntary unit that was part of Hitler’s forces.

Speaking to reporters before a Conservative caucus meeting on Parliament Hill, Poilievre said Trudeau was responsible for making Zelenskyy’s visit to Canada a success — and Hunka’s inclusion in the event has sullied Canada’s reputation on the global stage.

“Every single person ought to have been vetted for their diplomatic and security sensitivities if the prime minister and his massive apparatus were doing their jobs,” Poilievre said.

In question period, Poilievre again hammered Trudeau over the incident, saying it’s not enough for the prime minister to apologize on behalf of Canada or Parliament. He said Trudeau should wear this personally.

“This prime minister allowed for a monumental, unprecedented and global shame to unfold in this chamber,” Poilievre said. “Will he take personal responsibility for this shame and personally apologize on behalf of himself?”

Source: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/yaroslav-hunka-fallout-1.6979628?ref=readthemaple.com

Take a look at Erdogan, Aliyev, and Putin, who have held power for the past two decades without facing electoral defeat.

We inquired with Vazgen Manukyan, a member of the “National Committee,” about the possibility of Prime Minister Pashinyan announcing early elections tomorrow, similar to what occurred in 2021. Back then, during the movement to defend the Motherland, various institutions including the General Staff, alongside the church, called for Pashinyan’s resignation. However, the opposition eventually chose to participate in those elections.

Manukyan maintained his stance, asserting that he was opposed to such a move back then and remains so now. His reasoning lies in the fact that since 1995-96, the ruling authorities have consistently emerged victorious in elections, resulting in no change in government. While Manukyan did not rule out the potential for a change in government through effective organization, he emphasized that the fate of the people should not be staked on such a gamble.

The Azerbaijani authorities have imprisoned Ruben Vardanyan, the former Minister of State of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), for four months, according to APA.

“The presentation was ensured in the process chaired by judge Ulviyya Shukurova. The Court has sentenced Ruben Varda[n]yan to 4 months of preventive detention,” the respective statement reads.

It was reported earlier that Russian Armenian businessman and philanthropist, former Minister of State of Artsakh, Ruben Vardanyan was detained by Azerbaijanis from the Lachin corridor Wednesday. He is accused of financing terrorism, participating in the creation and activities of armed organizations or groups not provided for by the legislation of Azerbaijan, and organizing the illegal arrival of a foreigner or stateless person to Azerbaijan.

By Harut Sassounian,

Last week, Armenians worldwide experienced one of the biggest tragedies of their lives after Azerbaijan occupied Artsakh.

120,000 Artsakh Armenians — men, women and children — were attacked in their historic homeland by advanced weapons imported by oil-rich Azerbaijan from Israel, Russia, Pakistan and Eastern Europe.

The main evil-doers are Azerbaijan and its partner Turkey which are guilty of committing mass crimes against the people of Artsakh.

However, there is plenty of blame to go around. I want to start with the shameful role that Armenia’s Prime Minister has played in this disaster. Starting from 2001, while Pashinyan was an unknown journalist, he wrote in his Haykakan Jamanak newspaper that “through diplomacy, it is not possible not to return these [Artsakh] territories to Azerbaijan…. Having abandoned our own lands, we are trying to be the owners of someone else’s land.” After becoming Prime Minister, Pashinyan made numerous contradictory statements regarding Artsakh, first stating emphatically that “Artsakh is Armenia, that’s it,” and then, “Artsakh is part of Azerbaijan.” While the words of a journalist may not matter, his statements as Prime Minister cannot be dismissed. Game over! Artsakh is lost and nothing is expected to change that reality for a long time. As always, Pashinyan blames everyone else for his misdeeds, including the former leaders, the domestic opposition, and Russia.

To make matters worse, Pashinyan washed his hands from Artsakh and urged its leaders to sort out their differences with Azerbaijan. Pashinyan basically threw 120,000 poorly-armed Artsakh Armenians to the big bad Azeri wolf. How can tiny Artsakh negotiate with powerful Azerbaijan? Pashinyan ignored the fact that since Artsakh Armenians are citizens of Armenia, it was his constitutional duty to protect them. For months, he made the laughable promise that the rights and security of Artsakh Armenians will be protected after they become citizens of Azerbaijan. Ridiculously, Pashinyan announced last week, a couple of hours before the UN Security Council meeting, that the lives of Armenian civilians in Artsakh were secure after Azerbaijan’s attack. Shortly thereafter Armenia’s Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan told the Security Council that Azerbaijan is engaged in ethnic cleansing of Artsakh Armenians. Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister immediately pointed out to the UN the contradictory statements by the two Armenian leaders, thus undermining Armenia’s credibility in front of the whole world. In the meantime, hundreds of Artsakh Armenians were killed and wounded, and thousands are missing as a result of Azerbaijan’s attack.

Last week, when Azerbaijan’s strong military invaded what remained of Artsakh, Pashinyan announced that Armenia will not get involved in the conflict, thus giving the green light to Azerbaijan to commit all sorts of horrible crimes on the people of Artsakh. Pashinyan has held the mistaken notion that once Artsakh is returned to Azerbaijan, citizens of Armenia will live in peace. Regrettably, this is the farthest thing from the truth. Azerbaijan’s President, seeing in front of him a militarily weak Armenia and a leader who has no idea what he is doing, will not stop after his conquest of Artsakh. Aliyev will keep on demanding concessions from the weakling Pashinyan and occupy more and more territories of the Republic of Armenia. Aliyev has repeatedly and falsely claimed that all of Armenia is “Western Azerbaijan.” Since the 2020 war, Azerbaijan’s troops occupied portions of Armenia’s territory and have no intention of leaving. My fear is that Aliyev will continue making incursions into Armenia, until he takes over the whole country. Therefore, Pashinyan’s premise that Armenians in Armenia will leave in peace after abandoning Artsakh is absurd.

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev quickly capitalized on Pashinyan’s capitulation and repeatedly told the world that since Armenia’s Prime Minister admitted that Artsakh is part of Azerbaijan, that region is his country’s internal issue and no one has the right to intervene. Shortly thereafter, Russia’s leaders, including President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, repeatedly stated that Pashinyan is the one who relinquished Artsakh.

Nevertheless, Russia has its own share of guilt for what has been taking place in the last three years, and what happened in Artsakh last week. The Russian peacekeepers, who were mandated by the 2020 agreement to safeguard the population of Artsakh and keep the Lachin Corridor open until 2025, failed miserably to carry out their responsibilities. Russia did not even try to protect the borders of the Republic of Armenia, as required by the CSTO agreement signed between Armenia, Russia and several other former Soviet Republics. Russia’s inaction and Pashinyan’s relinquishment of Artsakh resulted in the massive human tragedy suffered by 120,000 Artsakh Armenians.

The international community is also guilty of ignoring the suffering of Artsakh Armenians who lost their historic homeland after being starved for nine months due to the blockade of the Lachin Corridor by Azerbaijan. Other than saying a lot of useless words, no one in the world lifted a finger to rescue these people and defend their rights. All international laws, human rights, and notions of justice were a lot of hot air. Equally useless were the UN Security Council, the International Court of Justice, European Court of Human Rights, European Union, European Council, and statements by officials of many countries, including the United States. As we all know, might makes right. Nothing else matters.

The top priority of Armenians worldwide now is seeking the immediate ouster of Pashinyan, since he is refusing to resign and digging a deeper hole for Armenia with every passing day. Unless Pashinyan is replaced soon by a competent and nationalistic Armenian who protects Armenia’s interests, Armenians may end up losing their homeland, this time for good!

After Pashinyan is replaced, Armenia’s new leader has to put all other issues aside and immediately acquire a massive amount of advanced weapons to defend the country’s borders from further incursions.

After vainly hoping and waiting for thousands of years for a foreign power to come and save Armenia, it is high time that Armenians finally realize that no one will ever come to rescue them. They need to save themselves!

Rahim Shaliyev @rahimsaliyev

Dear Armenians, growing up in Azerbaijan as a Talysh has taught me a lot. They will try to convince you that you are powerless, that no one will help you, and that you will be alone forever. They will try to create deep despair in you.

Remember one thing: If they have money, we have truths. And the truth is that we never ever chose to be slaves to evil regimes. Because we are sons of Liberty! We are daughters of Liberty! I don’t care what Turkey, Russia, Israel want. I don’t care about how they are powerful. I know only one thing: Their power is no greater than our truth and faith.