Tuesday, 22 July 2014
Hamas TV: Dead Gaza civilians privileged to have died this way
Hamas TV: Dead Gaza civilians privileged to have died this way
"These people [Gaza civilians killed in war]
- their time had come, and they were martyred.
They have gained [Paradise]...
Don't be disturbed by these images...
He who is Martyred doesn't feel...
He who is Martyred doesn't feel...
His soul has ascended to Allah."
[Al-Aqsa TV (Hamas), July 20, 2014]
by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
Hamas is trying to both justify and console Gaza's population over the many civilian deaths it has caused in the Gaza war. While broadcasting gruesome pictures of dead civilians, including children, a TV host explained that since in Islam a person's time of death is predetermined by Allah, the people who have been killed in the recent fighting have actually "gained": They would have died now anyway, but now they will receive the rewards of Martyrdom - Shahada - in Paradise.
Warning: Graphic Images
Palestinian Media Watch has documented Hamas' use of civilians as human shields, which has led to a high civilian death toll. Hamas has instructed Gaza civilians to disregard Israel's warnings to evacuate areas before they were bombed, and has decried those who have criticized the high civilian death toll.
The glorification of Martyrdom both justifies the Hamas activities that led to these deaths and also may console the population. In addition, this message may persuade civilians to continue endangering their lives by protecting Hamas terrorists and their terror infrastructure with their bodies.
Recenly, PMW reported on a sermon by the former Palestinian Authority Minister of Religious Affairs, Mahmoud Al-Habbash, who likewise glorified Martyrdom death as something to which Palestinians should aspire.
The following are the words of the Hamas TV host, referring to the civilians who died in the Gaza war as "having gained," followed by the words of the former Palestinian Authority Minister of Religious Affairs, who explains the ideology of Martyrdom in Islam.
Hamas TV: Dead Gaza civilians gained Paradise: "The enemy has killed us and we are Martyrs"
Hamas TV host: "Every soul has its time. These people - their time had come, and they were Martyred (i.e., Gaza civilians killed in war). They have gained [Paradise]. They have nothing in this world, especially in the Gaza Strip. There's no life in the Gaza Strip. What life can we have in the Gaza Strip? Being with Allah is better. Being with Allah is better. What we see is very hard but we won't surrender, Allah willing. The first to say it are the Martyrs' family. The first to say it are the Martyrs' mothers and fathers... Don't be disturbed by these images. He who was killed this way doesn't feel. By Allah, he does not feel. These are not my words, but the words of our beloved Prophet [Muhammad]: He who is Martyred doesn't feel. Only we suffer by these images. By Allah, [the Martyr] doesn't feel. His soul has ascended to Allah. His soul is with the Lord. His soul is inside a green bird. He is with Allah now. He is in Paradise. Only we suffer by these images... In other cities, in other countries, thousands die in earthquakes, floods, plane crashes, in ferry or shipwrecks, in natural or unnatural disasters. Thousands die. Thousands die but we don't know what their fate is with Allah. But we [in Gaza] are Martyrs. The enemy has killed us and we are Martyrs."
[Al-Aqsa TV (Hamas), July 20, 2014]
PA Minister of Religious Affairs Mahmoud Al-Habbash:
"After prophecy and righteousness there is no status Allah has exalted more than Shahada (Martyrdom)... ''And think not of those who have been killed in Allah's way as dead. Nay, they are alive (and) are provided sustenance from their Lord.'
Allah forbade us to consider them [the Shahids (Martyrs)] as dead or to speak of them as being dead... They went smiling to their deaths... The Shahid has merit with Allah, a merit that no one else has... No one - not even the righteous - yearns to return to this world after death. Only Shahids. Why? Because they see the great honor Allah has prepared for them. One of them aspired to return to this world in order to be killed again, in order to die as a Shahid yet again... Allah spoke with one of them (a Shahid), Jabir ibn Abdullah... After all he saw in Paradise, he wanted to return and be killed [again] in order to taste the pain of death a second time. Abdullah said to Him:
'Lord, then tell those who follow us about what we have found.'
Allah Himself is conveying to us the message from the Shahids. The prophets convey Allah's message and Allah conveys the message of the Shahids. What kindness!
'The Shahid - his sins are forgiven with the first gush of his blood from his wound...
The Shahid advocates on behalf of 70 members of his family, and saves them all from hell. The Shahid lives together with the prophets and the righteous ones.'
When they threatened Yasser Arafat, [he said] 'You threaten me with death?
I yearn to die! I come only to it; I seek only it.'
We will never reach the level of the prophets. We won't. So let us reach the level of the Shahids. I say to you, brothers, as the Prophet [Muhammad] said: 'He who honestly seeks Shahada, Allah will give him the status of the Shahids, even if he dies in his bed.'"
[Official PA TV, Nov. 8, 2013]
PA Minister of Religious Affairs Mahmoud Al-Habbash: "We know for certain that as long as we [adhere] to the truth, we will face challenges and be made a target - as individuals and as groups - we know this for certain. Nonetheless, we are also confident in the words of Allah: 'Say, 'Do you await for us except one of the two best things' (Quran, Sura 9:52, translation Sahih International). What do you expect, enemies, cowards (indistinct word), what do they expect will happen to us? 'One of the two best things.'
Brothers, Allah willing, only one of the two best things will happen to us - victory or Martyrdom (Shahada) - and what a good fate this is, what a good level is this - victory or Martyrdom...
'Say, 'Do you await for us except one of the two best things while we await for you that Allah will afflict you with punishment from Himself or at our hands? So wait; indeed we, along with you, are waiting' (Quran, Sura 9:52, translation Sahih International).
Await, wait a short while, I swear the signs heralding victory are seen on the horizon. I swear in a God, beside whom there is no other God, that the end of the tyranny and the tyrants is near. This occupation and its growths and creations that wish to spread corruption in our land... We tell them all, the occupation and the occupation's instruments and any who serve the occupation: 'Await for us except one of the two best things' - we, Allah willing, [will be] either Martyrs or victors on our land. [...]
Pay attention, it is Allah who says: 'They will not harm you except for [some] annoyance' (Quran, Sura 3:111, translation Sahih International) - it is possible that they will harm you. I say to you, it is possible that they will kill us, it is possible that Allah will sentence us to Martyrdom. It is possible that we will be wounded, it is possible that terrorism will be laid on us - 'They will not harm you except for [some] annoyance' - but in the end, 'and if they fight you, they will show you their backs' and the conclusion - 'then they will not be aided' (Quran, Sura, 3:111, translation, Sahih International). We ask for victory more than we ask for life. We ask for the strengthening of our people in this good and blessed land."
More than 100 rescued from private jail
According to officials, a heavy contingent of police raided a brick kiln in the suburban area of Hafizabad on the instruction of the CCPO Gujranwala. The raid was based on the information provided by a 16-year-old boy, Irfan, who had escaped from the private jail four years back.
The police also arrested three persons – Saifullah, Mushtaq Ahmed and Muhammad Asif – who are allegedly responsible for keeping these people in subhuman conditions.
The freed people, including men, women and children, later revealed that they had to work on the kiln and on fields of the accused and they were neither properly paid nor provided sufficient food. They said their captors had killed six people who had attempted to escape from their clutches. They revealed that some of the prisoners were also subjected to brutal torture, which crippled them. They said the blame for this torture was usually put on other prisoners and the culprits managed to escape punishment with the connivance of police.
They alleged that the landlords also raped their women. The boy, Irfan, also corroborated the account and said that his own father and two uncles had been tortured to death by the accused.
Taking notice, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has sought a report on the incident. He has ordered that a case against the persons operating the private jail be registered.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 21st, 2014.
'Balik tongsan' not insult, claims Umno man
He said that the remark was merely a response to Yuki Tan, the wife of Tanjong MP Ng Wei Aik (left), because she had earlier criticised Malaysia.Mohd Razlan told Malaysiakini that he did not know if the word "Tongsan" means anything significant.
"Does the term even exist?" he asked.
"Firstly, I feel the term is just a normal word. Like Chinese are fighting and one person asks the other to go back to the village (balik kampung)," he said.
"’Balik tongsan’ means leave the country. She needs to respect the country and the law of the country where she stays," he said when contacted.
DAP's Serdang MP Ong Kian Ming today demanded that disciplinary action be taken against Razlan (below in songkok) for making that remark in a tweet directed to Tan.
His
tweet was in response to Tan's status on the networking site, where she
wrote "Malaysia is a scary country, what useless country is this?"
following the MH17 tragedy which claimed 298 lives.Tan has since deleted her post and apologised after it triggered widespread criticism in the social media.
"If this is an useless country, why still stay here? The Chinese who are really from Malaysia who not feel offended, except if they are still 50-50," he further said.
He also criticised Ong for asking for disciplinary action against him.
"Ong Kian Ming knows what I meant but it's normal. What action? Maybe he wants to form a disciplinary body by himself to punish me," he said.
"He intends to implicate me. His politics is different, mine is different," he added.
It's official: PKR endorses Azizah as new MB
This was announced by her husband and PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim at a press conference held after midnight.
Anwar made the announcement after chairing a PKR supreme council meeting.
PKR will bring the matter for Pakatan Rakyat endorsement at the coalition's leadership council meeting on Wednesday.
Should the Pakatan leadership agree to this, Wan Azizah, who is also the Kajang assemblyperson, would replace Abdul Khalid Ibrahim.
Anwar (right) said PAS and DAP had previously agreed with a change of leadership in Selangor but Khalid's successor had not been chosen."PAS agrees to a change in leadership in Selangor but the (MB) candidate was not decided, despite the fact that we had discussed it at the Pakatan secretariat meeting before.
"The candidate was never discussed in the leadership council meetings, even though there is a consensus for a smooth and orderly transition of power," he said at the party headquarters in Petaling Jaya.
He also said that the change will take place "as soon as possible"
Speculation has been rife for months that Khalid's head is on the chopping block. The second-term MB has served for six years.
Khalid will still have a role
According to Anwar, the party believes Wan Azizah will be able to restore stability in Selangor and regain ebbing support for Pakatan in its crown jewel state.
He
said that Wan Azizah, would be able to solve outstanding issues like
the water restructuring exercise, the Kinrara-Damasara Expressway and
other basic infrastructure issues like garbage collection."Our consensus is to go by our earlier decision and to only put forth one name to the Pakatan leadership council.
"Of course, Khalid will still have a role in assisting in the state's administration," he said.
He said that discussions with Khalid (above) over his future role is ongoing.
He also denies reports that PKR will appoint several of its leaders to flank Wan Azizah in state administration.
"There is no discussion for any appointments," he stressed.
Malaysiakini earlier reported that it is believed that Wan Azizah will be assisted by PKR's Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli, Sungai Petani MP Johari Abdul and party secretary-general Saifudin Nasution Ismail
Rescuers find 251 bodies at crash site
A second train has arrived to take the remains away.
KIEV: Rescuers found 251 bodies and 86 fragments of bodies by late Sunday at the crash site of a Malaysian airliner and a second train with refrigerator wagons has arrived to take the remains away, an Ukrainian government committee said.
In a statement, the committee investigating the disaster said the first train where the remains of almost 200 victims had been placed before starting their journey home was stuck at the station in the town of Torez because “terrorists are blocking its exit”.
A search led by the Ukrainian government has so far found 196 bodies at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, according to the Ukrainian State Emergency Service (SES) on Sunday.
The SES said 380 staff were taking part in the search that stretches across 34 sq km of eastern Ukraine.
However, it said that the search was being complicated by separatists at the site who were hindering the work of SES units.
Earlier, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said it had doubts over the number of bodies recovered from the downed MH17 or where they were taken or who moved them.
In a statement, the committee investigating the disaster said the first train where the remains of almost 200 victims had been placed before starting their journey home was stuck at the station in the town of Torez because “terrorists are blocking its exit”.
A search led by the Ukrainian government has so far found 196 bodies at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, according to the Ukrainian State Emergency Service (SES) on Sunday.
The SES said 380 staff were taking part in the search that stretches across 34 sq km of eastern Ukraine.
However, it said that the search was being complicated by separatists at the site who were hindering the work of SES units.
Earlier, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said it had doubts over the number of bodies recovered from the downed MH17 or where they were taken or who moved them.
Sultan refuses to grant audience to Khalid Samad
The Sultan's private secretary said if Khalid Samad's letter had been one requesting forgiveness, the Sultan could have considered it.
KUALA LUMPUR: The Sultan of Selangor today declined to grant an audience to Shah Alam Member of Parliament Khalid Samad.
Khalid had requested for an audience to explain his statement calling for the abolition of the executive powers of the Selangor Islamic Affairs Council (Mais).
The Sultan’s private secretary, Mohamad Munir Bani, said the letter the Sultan received last Friday was not one apologising for his actions but one in which he requested to explain his statements.
“There is no reason to give explanations to the Sultan. It is better to explain to the people, as he had announced to the whole world that Mais’ executive powers should be done away with.
“The Sultan wants Khalid to explain to the people just as he had done before. He had used the media. Therefore, he must use the same channel to provide his explanation.
“There is no need to see His Majesty,” he said to the media today.
Munir said had the letter been one requesting forgiveness, the Sultan could have considered it. But since he wanted an audience just to provide explanations, the Sultan had rejected it.
Khalid asked the Selangor state government to abolish Mais’ executive powers, which drew the ire of the Sultan, who considered Khalid as rude.
Khalid had requested for an audience to explain his statement calling for the abolition of the executive powers of the Selangor Islamic Affairs Council (Mais).
The Sultan’s private secretary, Mohamad Munir Bani, said the letter the Sultan received last Friday was not one apologising for his actions but one in which he requested to explain his statements.
“There is no reason to give explanations to the Sultan. It is better to explain to the people, as he had announced to the whole world that Mais’ executive powers should be done away with.
“The Sultan wants Khalid to explain to the people just as he had done before. He had used the media. Therefore, he must use the same channel to provide his explanation.
“There is no need to see His Majesty,” he said to the media today.
Munir said had the letter been one requesting forgiveness, the Sultan could have considered it. But since he wanted an audience just to provide explanations, the Sultan had rejected it.
Khalid asked the Selangor state government to abolish Mais’ executive powers, which drew the ire of the Sultan, who considered Khalid as rude.
China’s Response to the MH17 Tragedy? Condemn the West
Despite memories of decades of Cold War frostiness, Beijing is now quite chummy with Moscow
On July 18, shortly after Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashed over eastern Ukraine, extinguishing 298 lives, China’s Xinhua state news agency cautioned against making snap judgments. The U.S. and other Western nations had begun to finger pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine for shooting down the Boeing 777 passenger plane, but Xinhua dismissed such accusations as “rash” and took the opportunity to swipe at Western democracies for their condemnation of Russia’s earlier military intervention in Ukraine:The one-sided accusation is not surprising in light of their long-time stance on the crisis in eastern Ukraine, and their attitude towards Russia’s absorption of Crimea in March. But without convincing evidence, jumping to a conclusion will only heighten regional tension and is not conducive to finding out the truth. Russian President Vladimir Putin late Thursday said it is Ukraine that bears the responsibility as the tragedy occurred over its territory. The tragedy, Putin said, could have been avoided should Ukraine’s eastern regions be in peace.On July 21, the People’s Daily, the Chinese Communist Party’s mouthpiece, ran a piece still cautioning that “no proof has been found so far to clarify the cause or identify the perpetrator.” Nowhere did the story mention the likelihood that pro-Russian rebels had trained a missile on MH17 as it flew from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. The same day, the Global Times, a Chinese Communist Party–linked daily that can be counted on for nationalist commentary, did at least mention such a possibility — if only to decry Western governments’ speculation that Russia may have aided and abetted the rebels’ cause:
The Western rush to judge Russia is not based on evidence or logic. Russia had no motive to bring down MH17; doing so would only narrow its political and moral space to operate in the Ukrainian crisis. The tragedy has no political benefit for Ukrainian rebel forces, either. Russia has been back-footed, forced into a passive stance by Western reaction. It is yet another example of the power of Western opinion as a political tool.The crisis in Ukraine had already put China in a difficult position. Despite memories of decades of Cold War frostiness, Beijing has boosted its ties with Moscow. The two neighbors share an antipathy toward Western democratic values and a mutual interest in natural resources. The first foreign trip Xi Jinping made as President was to Russia in March 2013. Yet China also proclaims that one of its foreign-policy bedrocks is staying out of other nation’s internal affairs. Russia’s invasion of Crimea — which Xinhua delicately termed an “absorption” — cannot be considered as anything but a gross interference in Ukraine’s internal affairs. Beijing is struggling with separatist sentiment at home, most notably among Tibetan and Uighur populations in China’s far west. How can Chinese foreign-policy makers support an ethnic rebel movement over a national government, even if those separatists do have Russia’s tacit blessing? China may soon have to reconcile this foreign-policy quandary. “It will bring about a severe challenge to China’s general strategy and diplomacy if America and Europe propose sanctions against Russia and demand China should join with them,” wrote Chinese security analyst Gao Feng in a widely disseminated blog post. “For China, the issue is which side it should choose. Without doubt, an ambiguous stance [by Beijing] will face criticism and moral pressure.” There were no mainland Chinese nationals on MH17. By contrast, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which vanished in March en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, was filled with Chinese passengers. As the Malaysian investigation into that plane’s disappearance foundered, Chinese authorities allowed MH370 families to stage protests in Beijing — a rarity in a nation allergic to public displays of dissent. This time around, official Chinese sentiment has steered clear of blaming Malaysia for the Ukraine tragedy. Instead, West-bashing has predominated. “The West has successfully put itself in a position to dictate ‘political correctness’ in international discourse,” said the Global Times editorial on MH17 on Monday. “Those unwilling to work with Western interests will often find themselves in a tough position.” Criticism of the West even extended beyond the tragedy of MH17. On July 21, Xinhua publicized a new campaign of “intense ideological education for officials to strengthen their faith in communism and curb corruption.” First on cadres’ to-do lists? Keeping a “firm belief in Marxism to avoid being lost in the clamor for western democracy.” — With reporting by Gu Yongqiang / Beijing
“Bala”
My friend and part-time neighbour Datuk A. Kadir Jasin blogged recently about bala, meaning a punishment or trial that we must endure to pay for someone else’s misdeeds. Like many other Malays, he asked if our recent misfortune is a sign that we are living under a curse, and that indeed bala has befallen us. Malays are generally superstitious. For example, many believed that Langkawi was laid to waste for seven generations because of the curse of a princess Mahsuri who was wrongfully killed for adultery. Her curse was the bala that befell the people of Langkawi until Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad appeared seven generations later.
Kadir wanted us to take a moment to reflect if we too are facing bala (trial) and pembalasan (punishment), and if this may be caused by some dastardly wrong committed by some people in the country. In other words, retribution and punishment have befallen MAS and other innocent lives because of the sins of others. The ever-attentive fans of the Prime Minister have been quick to condemn Kadir for politicising a national tragedy, implying that he is blaming the PM for everything that has gone wrong in the country. To be fair to Kadir, he did not mention the PM or anyone else. I think he was merely reflecting the way many Malays think when confronted with repeated misfortune.
I remember one religious preacher in a taskirah (religious lecture) in Kota Bharu just last week telling the audience that when there is bala, God’s punishment is swift does not differentiate between the wrongdoer and the innocent. I am certain this lecturer was not thinking of the PM as the cause of the bala either.
I do not subscribe to this idea of bala. Even if there is one, punishment that disregards innocence seems harsh to me. After all, being all-powerful, God could easily manage the punishment better in ways that would not involve the blameless (such as Malaysian Airlines, its passengers and crew). I think punishment can only be just if it is meted to the wrongdoer, but then since God knows everything I could be wrong too. Still, we need not brush off this Malay superstition. Maybe God wishes to inflict pain on Malaysians for our collective failure to defend, uphold and fight for justice, or for failing to do right in matters God wants us to heed.
What could these matters be? Some would argue that we are now experiencing this terrible period because we tolerate the many corrupt practices in the country, or as some have suggested, because MAS serves wine and liquor on board their international flights. Others believe it’s because we are sending Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim to five years’ jail for what is clearly a personal matter, or because we put our funds in Cayman Island accounts.
However, I believe that if there really were a bala, it is more likely because of the way we mistreated the private investigator P. Balasubramaniam. Let me explain.
Bala was forced to leave the country with his family within 24 hours and he remained in exile for more than five years. His whole life was ruined beyond repair, with no friends and no financial support except for what businessman Deepak Jaikishan gave him. Bala’s wife and children suffered in ways I cannot explain here. He died upon his return without any chance to rebuild his life or take care of his family. Even if what he said in his affidavits were absolutely false, was the punishment proportionate to the crime? There must have been other ways to redress the wrongs committed by Bala, unless of course he was telling the truth.
Now look at the way we took care of Deepak. He was given land and interest-free loans from Bank Rakyat in the hundreds of millions. I am sure his life is full of fun and pleasure. Unlike Bala, he has friends in high places and I doubt he was ever alone and heartbroken like Bala. When we as a nation have lost the heart and the conscience to feel for Bala and to redress the wrongs done to him, and yet remain willing to tolerate those who put Deepak on the pedestal, then perhaps this is the reason for the bala and pembalasan.
In times of national mourning it’s not right to poke fun at others, including our leaders. Yet it’s not wrong to reflect on how we conduct ourselves, just in case our wrongs may have resulted in some kind of retribution. The justice that we demand of others (including from the Russians who have been accused of being responsible for the downing MH17) must also emanate from ourselves in our own dealings. The pain that the Russians have inflicted on us and those who lost their lives should be a reminder that we should not do the same, not even to a single individual P. Balasubramaniam , because bala may revisit us.
Double Tragedy Could Spell the End of MAS
Loss of two aircraft and more than 500 people make it seem almost impossible to continue
By Asia Sentinel,
The tragic loss of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 on July 17 with 298 passengers and crew aboard, coupled with the mysterious disappearance of a second Boeing 777-200 into the Indian Ocean with the loss of 239 on March 8, could well doom the airline.
No other airline has ever suffered a double tragedy of this magnitude, especially one that had swum in a river of red ink for years. The airline has a sad history of exploitation by cronies connected to the United Malays National Organization despite a record of excellent service that earned it five stars from Skytrax.
MAS’s current chief executive officer, Ahmad Jauhari Yahya and his team, have been given credit for reacting well to the disappearance of MH370. They put in place an array of promotions plus a banner on the website pointing out its five star status. The airline attempted to convey a message that its operations were proceeding normally. But passenger traffic had fallen drastically after MH370. Given the double loss, the psychological impact on passengers is likely to cut even deeper into passenger traffic.
Despite the most intensive search in aviation history, not a trace has been found of MH370 – no floating debris, nothing. It is considered the greatest mystery in aviation. The search, now four months along, continues although the focus of where the plane might have disappeared to has changed several times, all to no avail. By contrast, MH17 just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, flying a route flown by scores of other airlines even though a civil war raged on the ground, when it was brought down by missiles apparently fired by Ukrainian separatists allegedly trained by Russian technicians who thought they were shooting at a Ukrainian troop carrier, if intercepted transmissions can be believed.
It also seems certain that the two disasters will attract the attention of the Rottweilers of the US legal profession, no matter how the demise of the two planes came about, generating a flock of lawsuits.
In April, Malayan Banking Bhd. put out a post-MH370 analysis suggesting the airline should be broken up and privatized because its component parts were worth far more than the net asset value – at that time. Since then, with the loss of MH17, its market capitalization has plummeted precipitously. Even before the loss of MH17, according to the analysis, MAS’s shares were trading at the lowest level in 12 years. They have since fallen farther.
According to the analysis, the parent airline itself MAS lost RM1.35 billion on revenues of RM10.859 billion in 2013. At the same time, its components Firefly, its low-cost airline, MAS Engineering and Airport Terminal Services, all wholly owned, Brahim’s Holdings (30 percent owned) which provides bonded warehousing, freight forwarding and transportation services, and KL Aviation Fuel Services (15 percent owned) all made enough money to reduce the losses by nearly RM300 million. Its wholly owned cargo line lost another RM29 million.
Even before the latest disaster, MAS’s financial performance was terrible, losing the equivalent of US$1.6 million a day. It has been deep in the red for at least the past three years. Losses in 2011 were RM2.54 billion, the largest in the airline’s history, because of rising fuel prices and mismanagement that forced it to cut back eight international routes.
It appears MAS would be unable to survive without yet another cash injection from either the Malaysian government or Kazanah Nasional, the government sovereign fund. Since 2002, the airline has gone through two capital raisings and five new chief executive officers. Even with yet another bailout, it appears that inevitably it will eat through vast amounts of money as it struggles to regain its equilibrium and its passenger traffic.
MAS has been required to do national service, flying into low-passenger-volume areas to keep local politicians happy although it did chop back its domestic routes from 113 to 22, But it continues to lag its competitors such as low-cost airlines like AirAsia, controlled by private entrepreneur Tony Fernandes, which eat its lunch on both high-profit domestic and international routes. An attempt to sell the airline to Fernandes last year foundered because of union opposition and a political furor.
The airline has 19,000 employees and efforts to cut staff have run into trouble both from unions and from the political constituency connected to UMNO. As the Maybank report points out, MAS “struggles to trim down its workforce. The management has mobilized some employees from departments with surplus staff to others which are in a deficit. However, there are many limitations on different skill sets and licensing requirements. A ‘golden handshake’ is a plausible consideration, but has not been talked about due to the highly sensitive nature.”
With compensation based on seniority, that limits the company’s ability to either attract or retain talent. Staff benefits are lucrative and among the best in the airline industry, Maybank says. “Whilst it is common to provide perks as a mean to reward and retain talents, it can backfire if it is not structured properly.
Cronies have repeatedly very nearly ruined the business operations. Sources told Asia Sentinel after MH370’s disappearance that contracts for everything from the packets of nuts for passengers to cleaning contracts are vastly inflated and given to UMNO cronies. The catering contract, for instance, was awarded to the brother of former Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and LSG Lufthansa for 25 years. It still has more than a decade to run.
Too often, political cronies rather than professionals have been put in charge of running the carrier although Ahmad Jauhari Yahya has earned respect. Despite the bloated employee load, it is considered to have ignored investments in customer service, especially in comparison to Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific, considered to be the region’s best carriers.
MAS’s safety record isn’t unblemished, even without the two disasters, although given the record of other carriers in the region, including Garuda Indonesia, China Airlines of Taiwan, Korean International and others, it isn’t that bad. It’s worth noting, for instance, that Silk Air, a budget subsidiary of Singapore International, suffered an apparent pilot suicide in December 1997 when the pilot crashed the plane in southern Sumatra, killing 97 passengers and seven crew members on board. Singapore officials attempted to cover up the reasons for the crash.
The tragic loss of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 on July 17 with 298 passengers and crew aboard, coupled with the mysterious disappearance of a second Boeing 777-200 into the Indian Ocean with the loss of 239 on March 8, could well doom the airline.
No other airline has ever suffered a double tragedy of this magnitude, especially one that had swum in a river of red ink for years. The airline has a sad history of exploitation by cronies connected to the United Malays National Organization despite a record of excellent service that earned it five stars from Skytrax.
MAS’s current chief executive officer, Ahmad Jauhari Yahya and his team, have been given credit for reacting well to the disappearance of MH370. They put in place an array of promotions plus a banner on the website pointing out its five star status. The airline attempted to convey a message that its operations were proceeding normally. But passenger traffic had fallen drastically after MH370. Given the double loss, the psychological impact on passengers is likely to cut even deeper into passenger traffic.
Despite the most intensive search in aviation history, not a trace has been found of MH370 – no floating debris, nothing. It is considered the greatest mystery in aviation. The search, now four months along, continues although the focus of where the plane might have disappeared to has changed several times, all to no avail. By contrast, MH17 just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, flying a route flown by scores of other airlines even though a civil war raged on the ground, when it was brought down by missiles apparently fired by Ukrainian separatists allegedly trained by Russian technicians who thought they were shooting at a Ukrainian troop carrier, if intercepted transmissions can be believed.
It also seems certain that the two disasters will attract the attention of the Rottweilers of the US legal profession, no matter how the demise of the two planes came about, generating a flock of lawsuits.
In April, Malayan Banking Bhd. put out a post-MH370 analysis suggesting the airline should be broken up and privatized because its component parts were worth far more than the net asset value – at that time. Since then, with the loss of MH17, its market capitalization has plummeted precipitously. Even before the loss of MH17, according to the analysis, MAS’s shares were trading at the lowest level in 12 years. They have since fallen farther.
According to the analysis, the parent airline itself MAS lost RM1.35 billion on revenues of RM10.859 billion in 2013. At the same time, its components Firefly, its low-cost airline, MAS Engineering and Airport Terminal Services, all wholly owned, Brahim’s Holdings (30 percent owned) which provides bonded warehousing, freight forwarding and transportation services, and KL Aviation Fuel Services (15 percent owned) all made enough money to reduce the losses by nearly RM300 million. Its wholly owned cargo line lost another RM29 million.
Even before the latest disaster, MAS’s financial performance was terrible, losing the equivalent of US$1.6 million a day. It has been deep in the red for at least the past three years. Losses in 2011 were RM2.54 billion, the largest in the airline’s history, because of rising fuel prices and mismanagement that forced it to cut back eight international routes.
It appears MAS would be unable to survive without yet another cash injection from either the Malaysian government or Kazanah Nasional, the government sovereign fund. Since 2002, the airline has gone through two capital raisings and five new chief executive officers. Even with yet another bailout, it appears that inevitably it will eat through vast amounts of money as it struggles to regain its equilibrium and its passenger traffic.
MAS has been required to do national service, flying into low-passenger-volume areas to keep local politicians happy although it did chop back its domestic routes from 113 to 22, But it continues to lag its competitors such as low-cost airlines like AirAsia, controlled by private entrepreneur Tony Fernandes, which eat its lunch on both high-profit domestic and international routes. An attempt to sell the airline to Fernandes last year foundered because of union opposition and a political furor.
The airline has 19,000 employees and efforts to cut staff have run into trouble both from unions and from the political constituency connected to UMNO. As the Maybank report points out, MAS “struggles to trim down its workforce. The management has mobilized some employees from departments with surplus staff to others which are in a deficit. However, there are many limitations on different skill sets and licensing requirements. A ‘golden handshake’ is a plausible consideration, but has not been talked about due to the highly sensitive nature.”
With compensation based on seniority, that limits the company’s ability to either attract or retain talent. Staff benefits are lucrative and among the best in the airline industry, Maybank says. “Whilst it is common to provide perks as a mean to reward and retain talents, it can backfire if it is not structured properly.
Cronies have repeatedly very nearly ruined the business operations. Sources told Asia Sentinel after MH370’s disappearance that contracts for everything from the packets of nuts for passengers to cleaning contracts are vastly inflated and given to UMNO cronies. The catering contract, for instance, was awarded to the brother of former Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and LSG Lufthansa for 25 years. It still has more than a decade to run.
Too often, political cronies rather than professionals have been put in charge of running the carrier although Ahmad Jauhari Yahya has earned respect. Despite the bloated employee load, it is considered to have ignored investments in customer service, especially in comparison to Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific, considered to be the region’s best carriers.
MAS’s safety record isn’t unblemished, even without the two disasters, although given the record of other carriers in the region, including Garuda Indonesia, China Airlines of Taiwan, Korean International and others, it isn’t that bad. It’s worth noting, for instance, that Silk Air, a budget subsidiary of Singapore International, suffered an apparent pilot suicide in December 1997 when the pilot crashed the plane in southern Sumatra, killing 97 passengers and seven crew members on board. Singapore officials attempted to cover up the reasons for the crash.
Palestinian boy clings to paramedic
Deaths in the Israel-Palestine conflict
More than four in five of the 8600 deaths since September 2000 have been Palestinians. In the past five years, 95 per cent of deaths have been Palestinians.
A boy with cuts all over his body is using every ounce of his strength to cling on to a rubber-gloved medic trying to lay him on a hospital bed.
What the haunting photograph does not capture are the Palestinian boy’s screams at the paramedic: “I want my father, bring me my father!”
It also fails to show the gaping wound on the left side of his head, the large piece of shrapnel in his neck, and smaller pieces lodged in his chest and abdomen, sustained after being caught in artillery fire from Israel.
The story behind the photograph taken at Gaza City’s al-Shifa hospital last Thursday – and disseminated across the world – was revealed by a junior doctor Belal Dabour in a piece for the pro-Palestinian masthead The Electronic Intifada.
“At around 3am, about eight or nine casualties arrived at the emergency room all at once. The last to come in were four siblings - two of them little children, both about three years old, with relatively superficial wounds,” he wrote.
“Then came the older of the four siblings, a boy in his early teens. His head and face were covered in blood and he was pressing a rag to his head to staunch the flow. But his focus was on something else: ‘Save my little brother!’ he kept screaming.”
The unnamed boy pictured in the photograph was thrashing about and screaming for his father as the paramedic carried him straight from the emergency unit to intensive care.
“Upon carefully examining the wounds, it appeared that the explosion from the artillery round sent flying small pieces of stone from the walls of his house, and that some of his wounds were caused by these high-velocity projectiles,” Dr Dabour wrote.
The shrapnel in the boy’s neck just missed a major artery, the piece in his chest nearly punctured a lung, and the one in his stomach nearly hit his bowel. But the child was a “lucky” one, Dr Dabour said, because he had seen too many killed.
Just a day earlier, four boys aged between nine and 11 were playing on the beach in Gaza City when Israeli military strikes slaughtered them. They were cousins.
As the Islamic militant group Hamas and Israeli troops prepare to enter day 14 of their latest conflict, the death toll sits at 417 Palestinians and 18 Israelis.
A third of Palestine's dead were children, the United Nations children’s agency declared on Saturday. About 50 boys and 20 girls between three months and 18 years of age had been slain.
“From July 8, until 4am on July 19, at least 73 Palestinian children have been reported killed as a result of air strikes and shelling by Israel aerial, naval and ground forces,” UNICEF's Catherine Weibel said.
Israel accused Hamas of using the Gaza population as a human shield, firing rockets from civilian areas and infrastructure.
Dr Dabour ended his account by saying he did not find out the youngster's name as too many people - "some arrived torn to pieces, some beheaded, some disfigured beyond recognition" - arrived to be saved.
"I do not know whether he was reunited with his father, or even what became of the rest of his family," he wrote. "But there’s one thing that I know for sure, which is that hundreds of children just like him suffered similar or worse injuries, and up to the moment of this writing, nearly 80 children just like him have been killed as Israel’s merciless attack goes on."
http://www.smh.com.au/world/palestinian-boy-clings-to-paramedic--story-behind-the-viral-photo-20140721-zv5n1.html#ixzz388kMiKmu
Why are they called “Palestinians”? Does it come from the Bible or Islam?
Why are Palestinians called Palestinians? Where did the name Palestine come from? Is it from the Bible, or is it an Islamic or Arab word? The roots of the word Palestine reveals much about the regions polytheistic past.According to both secular and biblical scholars, the land that is now today called Israel was once called Canaan. Prior to the appearance of the Jewish religion and the bible, Canaan was populated by many different pagan tribes who had lived on the land for generations. It was these pagan tribes who invented the language and writing system today known as Hebrew. At some point in time, these pagan tribes were replaced by biblical Judaism through a series of civilizational conflicts between the new monotheist religion and the original polytheists. Both secular and religious scholars agree that the transformation of the region from Canaan to Israel was not peaceful, though they may disagree on how exactly the transformation took place. What we do know is that the monotheists eventually won and established a theocracy which drove out, killed or enslaved all of the original inhabitants.
One of these original pagan tribes that were invaded and eventually expelled by the monotheists were called the “Philistines”. According to the bible, the Philistines inhabited the cities of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Ekron, and Gath; some of these names you may recognize from the modern Israel/Palestine conflict. Secular archaeology reveals that the Philistine cities were carefully planned and included industrial zones. Yet all of this was lost to the monotheists after they took the land by force and instituted the laws of the bible which drove out or enslaved the Philistine people.
Because of their bible based aggression and expansionism, the monotheists acquired many enemies in the region, including Egypt, Babylon and Rome. The nation of Israel was attacked and destroyed by pagan Babylon in 605 BC. However, the monotheists were eventually returned to the land they had had taken from the Canaanites after Persia defeated Babylon some 70 years later. The region today know as Israel became part of the Roman Empire 63 BC, when it was annex after the Third Mithridatic War. When the pagan Romans annexed Israel they called it by it’s monotheist name of “Judea”. But after several conflicts with the monotheists, the Romans completely destroyed their holy city of Jerusalem in 70 AD and sent many of the monotheists out into the diaspora. After winning against the biblical monotheists, the Roman renamed the province its pagan name, “Palestine”. Palestine is the Roman word for “Philistine”, one of the original pagan tribes which inhabited the region.
Contrary to popular belief, the word “Palestinian” has nothing to do with Islam or Arabianism. Islam did not even enter the region until almost 600 years after Rome had defeated the monotheists and renamed the region Palestine. Eventually pagan Rome was replaced by the Christian Byzantine Empire. When Muslims invaded the land today known as Israel, it was owned not by Jews but by Christians who had left it’s name as Palestine. The district of Palestine eventually fell to the British. In the 1917, the British signed the Balfour Declaration which gave this region back to the monotheists who had conquered the land first, today known as Jews. The Jews who had not owned the land for more than 2,000 years were given a deed to Palestine because it was believed to be their biblical birthright. However, the land of Palestine which originally belonged to the pagan Philistines was now populated primarily by Muslim Arabs and the British called these people the “Palestinians”. And so now you know why they are called “Palestinians”
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17: Eight unanswered questions
By Faith Karimi
CNN July 21, 2014
(CNN) — Amid the chaos and the grief, the politics and the finger pointing, we are no closer to answering some key questions about the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. The crash, which killed all 298 aboard, has turned a volatile Ukrainian region into a global problem.
Here are eight questions we don’t yet have the answers to.
1. Who shot down the plane?
Only a full investigation can settle that. This much we know: Flight MH17 was shot down using a surface-to-air missile in Ukrainian territory that’s controlled by pro-Russian rebels.
“We have a video showing a launcher moving back through a particular area there, out into Russia, with at least one missing missile on it,” Secretary of State John Kerry said on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday.
But Russia has denied any involvement. So have the rebels, who accuse the Ukrainians of downing the plane — without offering proof.
2. Why would anyone target a passenger plane?
If indeed the rebels are behind the attack, they may have mistaken the plane for a Ukrainian military craft. In the past few months, the rebels have used surface-to-air missiles to bring down more than a dozen planes, including two transport aircraft, the U.S. Embassy in Kiev said.
Shortly after the crash, Igor Strelkov, the self-proclaimed defense minister of the Donetsk People’s Republic, claimed on social media that the rebels had shot down a military transport plane. Those posts were later deleted once it turned out the plane was a civilian aircraft.
“It has the earmarks of a mistaken identification of an aircraft that they may have believed was Ukrainian,” Arizona Sen. John McCain told MSNBC.
3. Why was the plane flying over a war zone?
Most airlines follow rules set by national civil aviation authorities and take the most direct route available, said Mary Schiavo, a former inspector general of the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The Malaysia Airlines flight left Amsterdam for Kuala Lumpur. It flew over eastern Ukraine, which is a common route for international carriers.
Last week, Eurocontrol, the agency responsible for coordinating European airspace, said Ukrainian authorities had closed airspace in the region below 32,000 feet, but it was open at the level Flight 17 was flying (33,000 feet).
“There’s a lot of questions to be asked in a lot of different places,” CNN aviation analyst Miles O’Brien said. “Why didn’t government officials close off that airspace completely? 32,000 feet, that’s a completely arbitrary number.”
4. When will international investigators get access to the crash site?
No one knows.
A U.N. Security Council meeting ended early Monday morning, with Australia introducing a resolution that called for a swift international investigation.
“There’s no doubt that at the moment the site is under the control of the Russian-backed rebels. And given the almost certain culpability of the Russian-backed rebels in the downing of the aircraft, having those people in control of the site is a little like leaving criminals in control of a crime scene,” Australia’s Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Monday.
But Russia, which has veto power as permanent member of the council, wants a modified resolution — one that leaves out Ukraine from any investigation.
Scattered evidence of MH17 catastrophe
Photos: Malaysia Flight 17 victims remembered Photos: Malaysia Flight 17 victims remembered
MH17: What they left behind MH17: What they left behind
Confusion, hostility at MH17 crash site
5. Where are the so-called black boxes?
The rebels say they have recovered something, but can’t be certain those are the flight data and cockpit voice recorders.
“These are some technical objects. We cannot say for sure these are black boxes,” rebel leader Alex Borodai told CNN.
Finding the devices is crucial; they will offer vital clues to the plane’s last moments.
What happens to the black boxes is also unclear.
In audio intercepts released by the Ukrainian government, a rebel leader is heard saying that Moscow is very interested in the black boxes and urges his followers to look for them urgently. (CNN can’t vouch for the authenticity of the audio).
6. Have all the victims’ bodies been recovered?
There’s no way to tell.
Rebels are keeping most of the bodies in two refrigerated train cars about 10 miles away from the site. And while international observers confirmed they saw “dozens and dozens” of bodies in the train, there was no way to verify the total.
Who were the victims?
7. What will happen to the remains?
That, too, is mired in politics. No one yet knows when they will be identified or where they will end up.
Alex Borodai, the rebel leader, says he’d rather hand over the remains to relatives — but only after “experts” examine them. He says he fears if the remains are turned over to Ukraine, the government would use them as evidence to blame his fighters for shooting down the plane.
“I want the bodies,” Selena Fredriksz sobbed at a memorial at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport on Sunday. Her son, 23-year-old Bryce, was one of the passengers on the plane. “They can have anything, but the bodies have to come back. Take their iPhones, take their money, take everything.”
8. How will Russia respond?
If an investigation concludes the plane was shot down by rebels using a Russian-supplied missile — or, worse still, by Russians themselves — President Vladimir Putin will have two choices. And neither, says Professor Daniel Treisman, works to his advantage.
Putin could reject the conclusions and stand by the rebels. If he does so, he risks becoming an international pariah. The West might also hit Russia with even tougher economic sanctions, enough to cripple its economy and send it into a recession.
Or, Putin could sever ties with the rebels. But that could present problems too.
“A relentless barrage of propaganda has convinced many Russians that their co-ethnics in Donetsk and Luhansk are being massacred by troops commanded by a fascist regime in Kiev,” said Treisman, who teaches political science at the University of California, Los Angeles, and who authored the book, “The Return: Russia’s Journey from Gorbachev to Medvedev.”
“For Putin to bow to international pressure and abandon his former charges would look like cowardice.”
CNN July 21, 2014
Here are eight questions we don’t yet have the answers to.
1. Who shot down the plane?
Only a full investigation can settle that. This much we know: Flight MH17 was shot down using a surface-to-air missile in Ukrainian territory that’s controlled by pro-Russian rebels.
“We have a video showing a launcher moving back through a particular area there, out into Russia, with at least one missing missile on it,” Secretary of State John Kerry said on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday.
But Russia has denied any involvement. So have the rebels, who accuse the Ukrainians of downing the plane — without offering proof.
2. Why would anyone target a passenger plane?
If indeed the rebels are behind the attack, they may have mistaken the plane for a Ukrainian military craft. In the past few months, the rebels have used surface-to-air missiles to bring down more than a dozen planes, including two transport aircraft, the U.S. Embassy in Kiev said.
Shortly after the crash, Igor Strelkov, the self-proclaimed defense minister of the Donetsk People’s Republic, claimed on social media that the rebels had shot down a military transport plane. Those posts were later deleted once it turned out the plane was a civilian aircraft.
“It has the earmarks of a mistaken identification of an aircraft that they may have believed was Ukrainian,” Arizona Sen. John McCain told MSNBC.
3. Why was the plane flying over a war zone?
Most airlines follow rules set by national civil aviation authorities and take the most direct route available, said Mary Schiavo, a former inspector general of the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The Malaysia Airlines flight left Amsterdam for Kuala Lumpur. It flew over eastern Ukraine, which is a common route for international carriers.
Last week, Eurocontrol, the agency responsible for coordinating European airspace, said Ukrainian authorities had closed airspace in the region below 32,000 feet, but it was open at the level Flight 17 was flying (33,000 feet).
“There’s a lot of questions to be asked in a lot of different places,” CNN aviation analyst Miles O’Brien said. “Why didn’t government officials close off that airspace completely? 32,000 feet, that’s a completely arbitrary number.”
4. When will international investigators get access to the crash site?
No one knows.
A U.N. Security Council meeting ended early Monday morning, with Australia introducing a resolution that called for a swift international investigation.
“There’s no doubt that at the moment the site is under the control of the Russian-backed rebels. And given the almost certain culpability of the Russian-backed rebels in the downing of the aircraft, having those people in control of the site is a little like leaving criminals in control of a crime scene,” Australia’s Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Monday.
But Russia, which has veto power as permanent member of the council, wants a modified resolution — one that leaves out Ukraine from any investigation.
Scattered evidence of MH17 catastrophe
Photos: Malaysia Flight 17 victims remembered Photos: Malaysia Flight 17 victims remembered
MH17: What they left behind MH17: What they left behind
Confusion, hostility at MH17 crash site
5. Where are the so-called black boxes?
The rebels say they have recovered something, but can’t be certain those are the flight data and cockpit voice recorders.
“These are some technical objects. We cannot say for sure these are black boxes,” rebel leader Alex Borodai told CNN.
Finding the devices is crucial; they will offer vital clues to the plane’s last moments.
What happens to the black boxes is also unclear.
In audio intercepts released by the Ukrainian government, a rebel leader is heard saying that Moscow is very interested in the black boxes and urges his followers to look for them urgently. (CNN can’t vouch for the authenticity of the audio).
6. Have all the victims’ bodies been recovered?
There’s no way to tell.
Rebels are keeping most of the bodies in two refrigerated train cars about 10 miles away from the site. And while international observers confirmed they saw “dozens and dozens” of bodies in the train, there was no way to verify the total.
Who were the victims?
7. What will happen to the remains?
That, too, is mired in politics. No one yet knows when they will be identified or where they will end up.
Alex Borodai, the rebel leader, says he’d rather hand over the remains to relatives — but only after “experts” examine them. He says he fears if the remains are turned over to Ukraine, the government would use them as evidence to blame his fighters for shooting down the plane.
“I want the bodies,” Selena Fredriksz sobbed at a memorial at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport on Sunday. Her son, 23-year-old Bryce, was one of the passengers on the plane. “They can have anything, but the bodies have to come back. Take their iPhones, take their money, take everything.”
8. How will Russia respond?
If an investigation concludes the plane was shot down by rebels using a Russian-supplied missile — or, worse still, by Russians themselves — President Vladimir Putin will have two choices. And neither, says Professor Daniel Treisman, works to his advantage.
Putin could reject the conclusions and stand by the rebels. If he does so, he risks becoming an international pariah. The West might also hit Russia with even tougher economic sanctions, enough to cripple its economy and send it into a recession.
Or, Putin could sever ties with the rebels. But that could present problems too.
“A relentless barrage of propaganda has convinced many Russians that their co-ethnics in Donetsk and Luhansk are being massacred by troops commanded by a fascist regime in Kiev,” said Treisman, who teaches political science at the University of California, Los Angeles, and who authored the book, “The Return: Russia’s Journey from Gorbachev to Medvedev.”
“For Putin to bow to international pressure and abandon his former charges would look like cowardice.”
Is Malaysia an Islamic State?
LoyarBurok by Tamir Moustafa
As published in LoyarBurok on 16 July 2014.
Tamir Moustafa dissects
and distils his learned academic article for the edification of us hoi
polloi. The first of three (and we hope many more) articles which will
be published (almost) simultaneously by our friends at
The New Mandala and here on LoyarBurok.
“Is
Malaysia a secular or Islamic state?” Without a doubt, this is one of
the most frequently asked questions in Malaysian politics. It is also
one of the most polarizing and misleading questions in Malaysian
politics. This is because the question itself tends accept certain
premises of the government’s claim to speak for Islamic law.
In my recent article, “
Judging in God’s Name,”
I argue that Malaysia is not an Islamic state, but not for the reasons
that are usually offered by secular, liberal rights activists. Secular
activists typically look to the Federal Constitution or cite the
documents of the Reid Commission to establish the secular foundations of
the Malaysian state. While these sorts of arguments may be well
founded, I argue that their impact will be limited if the government’s
claim to implement ‘Islamic law’ is not challenged more directly.
Although
Malaysia ranks sixth out of 175 countries worldwide in the degree of
state regulation of religion, this should not be understood as the
implementation of an “Islamic” system of governance or the achievement
of an “Islamic state.” No such ideal-type exists [1].
Please click
here to read the full article.PM's Pledge To Bring Back Bodies Of MH17 Crash Victims Almost A Reality
KUALA LUMPUR, July 22 (Bernama) -- Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's pledge, that all the bodies of Malaysian nationals killed in the Malaysia Airlines (MAS) MH17 crash in Ukraine would be buried in this country, is almost becoming a reality.
This followed the agreement reached between the Prime Minister and Alexander Borodai, the individual who holds the power in the region where the aircraft had crashed last Thursday, concerning the handling of the bodies of victims and the aircraft's black boxes, and the assurance of safe access for the international investigating team to begin their probe.
At the media conference at Seri Perdana, Putrajaya early today, Najib among other things said that 282 bodies of victims of the Boeing 777 air crash would be flown to Amsterdam, Holland, accompanied by a Malaysian team.
Family members of the crash victims would certainly feel relieved at the statement made by the Prime Minister that after undergoing a forensics process, if necessary, the bodies of Malaysian victims would be flown back to this country.
Another significant development was the agreement that the black boxes of the aircraft, which was carrying 298 passengers and crew members, that crashed after it was believed to have been shot down by a guided missile, would be handed over to the Malaysian team in Donetsk.
Najib's statement had given hope to Malaysians, particularly family members of the victims who wanted the cause of the tragedy to be investigated as soon as possible, thus giving justice to the victims who had died.
Malaysia's special investigating team on the MH17 tragedy, led by Khairil Hilmi Mokhtar together with 131 members from the various government agencies have been in Kiev since Saturday.
The aircraft MH17 was shot down over Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, while flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
In Kiev, Ukraine Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk in a press conference as quoted in the Media Centre's website 'Ukraine Crisis' on Monday, said that priority would be given to efforts to gather and bring out all the bodies and to collect evidence on the crash.
Yatsenyuk said Ukraine was prepared to give a major role to Holland in the investigation besides allowing international investigators to inspect its weaponry equipment to prove that it had nothing to do with the MH17 tragedy.
Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko, meanwhile, was reported to have directed his armed forces to halt any military activity within a radius of 40km from the MH17 crash site effective immediately.
It was part of the Ukraine government's initiative to speed up efforts by the international joint investigating team to gain safe access to the crash site.
In another development, Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek said the emergency Parliamentary session to discuss the air crash would be aired live on TV1, on Wednesday.
In his Facebook website posting, he said the parliamentary sitting would be broadcast beginning at 10am and members of the public could also serve the website http://m.rtm.gov.my/.
This followed the agreement reached between the Prime Minister and Alexander Borodai, the individual who holds the power in the region where the aircraft had crashed last Thursday, concerning the handling of the bodies of victims and the aircraft's black boxes, and the assurance of safe access for the international investigating team to begin their probe.
At the media conference at Seri Perdana, Putrajaya early today, Najib among other things said that 282 bodies of victims of the Boeing 777 air crash would be flown to Amsterdam, Holland, accompanied by a Malaysian team.
Family members of the crash victims would certainly feel relieved at the statement made by the Prime Minister that after undergoing a forensics process, if necessary, the bodies of Malaysian victims would be flown back to this country.
Another significant development was the agreement that the black boxes of the aircraft, which was carrying 298 passengers and crew members, that crashed after it was believed to have been shot down by a guided missile, would be handed over to the Malaysian team in Donetsk.
Najib's statement had given hope to Malaysians, particularly family members of the victims who wanted the cause of the tragedy to be investigated as soon as possible, thus giving justice to the victims who had died.
Malaysia's special investigating team on the MH17 tragedy, led by Khairil Hilmi Mokhtar together with 131 members from the various government agencies have been in Kiev since Saturday.
The aircraft MH17 was shot down over Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, while flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
In Kiev, Ukraine Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk in a press conference as quoted in the Media Centre's website 'Ukraine Crisis' on Monday, said that priority would be given to efforts to gather and bring out all the bodies and to collect evidence on the crash.
Yatsenyuk said Ukraine was prepared to give a major role to Holland in the investigation besides allowing international investigators to inspect its weaponry equipment to prove that it had nothing to do with the MH17 tragedy.
Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko, meanwhile, was reported to have directed his armed forces to halt any military activity within a radius of 40km from the MH17 crash site effective immediately.
It was part of the Ukraine government's initiative to speed up efforts by the international joint investigating team to gain safe access to the crash site.
In another development, Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek said the emergency Parliamentary session to discuss the air crash would be aired live on TV1, on Wednesday.
In his Facebook website posting, he said the parliamentary sitting would be broadcast beginning at 10am and members of the public could also serve the website http://m.rtm.gov.my/.
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