Latest news with #Al-Fajr
Arab News
19-04-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
1987 - Palestine's First Intifada
AMMAN: Intifada, an Arabic word that means 'shaking off,' was introduced to the English lexicon by many of us Palestinian journalists working with the foreign media in the Middle East. What was being shaken off was the status quo of living under occupation. Before the Intifada began, I was way too young to agree to the job offer that had been made to me. With my Bachelor of Arts degree in business from the US, the American-Palestinian owner of Al-Fajr, Paul Ajlouny, thought I could do a good job of bringing some business sense to the running the Jerusalem-based family newspaper. I did not and I hated the job. But while I was busy making ends meet, an English-language sister publication, Al-Fajr English, was being launched by Ajlouny's relative, Hanna Siniora. At the age of just 25, and still a bachelor, I enjoyed proofreading and was mesmerized seeing Al-Fajr go to press each week. Eventually, I would write my first article and was fascinated to see my byline in print. Arab News' front page captured the mounting Palestinian death toll of the First Intifada. The big story at the time was the assassination attempts by Jewish militants targeting nationalist Palestinian mayors. The return of one of them, Mayor Bassam Shakaa, after months of medical treatment in Europe, and the huge public welcome he received in the city of Nablus, adorned our front page. Shakaa, Hebron's Mayor Fahd Qawasmeh and Ramallah's Karim Khalaf (who was badly injured when he tried to start his booby-trapped car), were supporters of the Palestine Liberation Organization. By the time I left the business job to become a full-time journalist, Israel had invaded Lebanon, and the PLO's heroic 82-day steadfastness in Beirut, followed by its departure to Tunis, was our main story. It was in this nationalist atmosphere that my cousin, Mubarak Awad, had also returned from the US and started the Palestinian Center for the Study of Nonviolence. Along with my brother Jonathan, co-founder of the independent Palestinian human rights organization Al-Haq, they educated people in the occupied territories about how nonviolent resistance works. While such talk of nonviolence was new to many, it was well-received by some key leaders. I remember joining Awad and Jonathan in meetings with a student leader at Birzeit University named Marwan Barghouti, as well as many meetings with other Palestinian notables such as Faisal Husseini, Sari Nusseibeh and Hanan Ashrawi. An Israeli truck crashes into a car in Jabalya refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, killing 4 Palestinians. The Palestinian Intifada against Israeli occupation begins, triggered by the previous day's fatal crash. The Arab League announces it will support the Intifada financially, a pledge it renews in 1989. Israeli authorities deport Mubarak Awad, a nonviolent activist known as the 'Palestinian Gandhi.' PLO leader Yasser Arafat reads the Palestinian Declaration of Independence at a meeting of the Palestinian National Council in Algiers. Madrid peace conference takes place. The PLO and Israel sign a Declaration of Principles — the Oslo Accords — at the White House. An extremist Jewish settler assassinates Israel's Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, paving the way for Benjamin Netanyahu's first term as premier. Multilateral talks resume but stall soon after. Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon visits Al-Aqsa Mosque, triggering the Second Intifada. Awad's message was quickly being absorbed and he was getting calls from people from different parts of Palestine suffering from problems with settlers and the Israeli military. Nonviolent protests were taking place a couple of times a week, often with important results. But although Awad's work had not yet become mainstream, it was not long before the Israelis realized what was happening and started tracking him. They arrested him despite the fact that he had a US passport, and despite the many protests held in Jerusalem on his behalf. The man who became known as the 'Palestinian Gandhi' lost his case in Israel's High Court and was deported, even though he was born in Jerusalem, on orders from right-wing Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir. But the literature he distributed, and his ideas about nonviolence and boycotts, lingered. Palestinian anger erupted on Dec. 9, 1987, in the Jabaliya refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, the day after an Israeli military truck collided with a civilian car, killing four Palestinians. While many saw in the clashes with Israelis a public expression of anger about this incident, it was really the fact that settlers were continuing to build without any deterrence that led Palestinian youths to fight with the only weapon freely available to them, stones, which are abundant in Palestinian towns and villages. While the images of the Intifada were those of young Palestinians, often dressed in black-and-white keffiyehs, pelting settlers and soldiers with stones, it was the nonviolent actions throughout Palestine that fascinated me. Perhaps the most visible of these actions was the decision by the people of Beit Sahour to adopt the slogan of American revolutionaries: no taxation without representation. Palestinians living in the town decided to stop paying taxes as long as they had no political power. This drove the Israeli military crazy, and it laid siege to Beit Sahour. Palestinian boy looks out between banners calling for armed struggle against Israel in Gaza. AFP One iconic sign of the nonviolent resistance was the decision not to follow Israel when it changed its clocks in April to mark the start of summertime. I remember covering stories about Israeli soldiers outside Damascus Gate in Jerusalem who would stop young Palestinians and check their watches. If the time had not been changed, the soldiers would use their batons to smash the watches while they were still on the youths' wrists. The Intifada finally ended when US Secretary of State James Baker asked the Palestinians to attend the Madrid peace conference in 1991. The Israelis were represented there by Shamir, who had deported Awad. The Israeli delegation's spokesperson was Benjamin Netanyahu, now prime minister. The Palestinian delegation's spokeswoman was Hanan Ashrawi. Nothing happened as a result of that conference, but a secret agreement worked out in Oslo led to an initial breakthrough that resulted in the creation of the Palestinian Authority and the return of the PLO to the Occupied Palestinian Territories. But that achievement, and the hopes of the peace for which so many had suffered, were wiped out on Nov. 4, 1995, when an extremist Jewish settler assassinated Israel's prime minister, Yitzhak Rabin, paving the way for Netanyahu's first term as premier. As the tragic events in Gaza and the West Bank since Oct. 7, 2023, have demonstrated, things have gone only backward for Palestinian rights and aspirations ever since.
Arab News
22-03-2025
- Business
- Arab News
Saudi Arabia sees surging prices for religious tourism amid Ramadan rush
RIYADH: Ramadan is a highly popular period to perform the Umrah pilgrimage, and travel agencies and tour operators are cashing in on the festive rush. Flights from Riyadh to Jeddah are seeing increased demand and surging prices. 'There was an offer on Saudi Founding Day so some people got cheaper tickets, but with the beginning of Ramadan tickets went up,' said Mohammad Aslam Jameel, a travel company supervisor in Riyadh. 'If you are traveling now to Jeddah, the round-trip tickets will cost about SR1,700 ($453) to SR2,000.' There are comparatively cheaper tickets for odd timings, but they, too, will total about SR1,500 now to SR 2,000 during Qiyam — the last 10 days of Ramadan — he added. Umrah travel operators in Riyadh have almost doubled the price of the bus tour package to SR200 per person, Mohammed Iqbal, who recently booked an Umrah pilgrimage, told Arab News. 'The huge rush was due to the holy month of Ramadan since most of the people want to spend these days in the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah,' he said. An employee of Al-Fajr, a tour operator in the city, also added that the increased prices were due to surging demand. Ticket prices for international flights, too, have soared on dates close to Eid Al-Fitr as many expatriates plan to travel back home. Asif Ahmed, an Indian working in Riyadh and traveling home for the Eid celebration with his family, told Arab News: 'When I had checked the price with the tour operator for the same period two months ago for a round trip, it was about SR2,000. Now the tickets prices for the round trip have soared to SR4,000.' Syed Faiz Ahmad, a Pakistani expat working in Yanbu, told Arab News: 'It's my 28th year staying in Saudi Arabia. During my early years the cost of air tickets for travel to my native country during Eid was not much, but as the time has passed all airlines have started to raise the prices exorbitantly amid (the) festive rush. 'This has become economically challenging to travel home during holidays especially with family.' Saudi Arabia's religious tourism sector is experiencing remarkable growth, with data revealing a sharp rise in travel demand for 2024 and 2025. Findings from travel booking platform Skyscanner highlight the increasing global interest in pilgrimage travel. With early 2025 travel data already reflecting strong demand, the trend of growing religious tourism is expected to continue. January 2025 saw a 21 percent year-on-year increase in flight searches to Saudi Arabia, with peak travel interest centered around March 2025 — coinciding with the start of Ramadan. Findings for 2024 also revealed spikes around Ramadan (March–April) and Hajj (June). Madinah has emerged as a key destination for travelers interested in pilgrimage, with searches for flights to Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz International Airport rising by 54 percent year-on-year. Religious tourism remains a cornerstone of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 strategy, serving as a key pillar in the Kingdom's economic transformation. Significant investments are being made to improve infrastructure, expand flight routes and enhance the pilgrim experience. Key projects such as the Makkah Route Initiative for Hajj pilgrims and the Haramain High-Speed Railway are instrumental in these efforts. Countering the trend of surging prices, the railway offered discounts on two-way travel between Makkah and Madinah during the first 20 days of Ramadan. The railway has also increased Makkah-Madinah trips for the final 10 days of Ramadan to accommodate the surge in Umrah performers during Qiyam Al-Layl, with 130 additional daily trips added, the Saudi Press Agency reported. The Haramain High-Speed Railway, among the world's fastest railways with a speed of 300 km per hour, also increased station gate capacity from eight to 24 and added two terminals.
Saba Yemen
15-02-2025
- Sport
- Saba Yemen
Al-Fajr team qualifies for final of Martyr Leader Football Championship in Hajjah
Hajjah - Saba: Al-Fajr team qualified for the final of the Martyr Leader Football Championship in Hajjah, which is organized by the game's federation in coordination with the general mobilization and the supervision of the Youth and Sports Office in the governorate. Penalty kicks tipped the scales in favor of Al-Fajr over Shabab Tihama with five goals to four after the end of the original time of the match, which was managed by referees Akram Hamid Saha, Samir Al-Nafish and Abdullah Al-Shater as assistants, and Mujahid Al-Qaili as the fourth referee, with a goalless draw. With this result, Al-Fajr team, the strongest defense in the tournament, set a date to face the strongest attack, the Martyr Abu Abdullah team, in the tournament final. Whatsapp Telegram Email Print
Saba Yemen
05-02-2025
- Sport
- Saba Yemen
Abu Abdel team overcomes Shabab Tihama in Martyr Leader Football Championship in Hajjah
Hajjah - Saba: Abu Abdel team overcame its counterpart Shabab Tihama in the first round of the second round of the Martyr Leader Sayyid Hussein Badr al-Din al-Houthi Football Championship in Hajjah for the second group. The first goal for Abu Abdel team was scored by Fadl Atba, before striker Bassam Qadish added a second goal in the match, which was officiated by referees Khaled Al-Awami, Abdullah Al-Shater , Samir Al-Nafish, assistants, and Mujahid Al-Qaili, fourth referee. The second round of the tournament, organized by the Football Association branch in coordination with the General Mobilization and supervised by the Youth and Sports Office in the province, will continue tomorrow with a meeting in the first group between Al-Gharib Youth and Al-Fajr. The teams of Abu Abdel, the Red Crescent, Shabab Tihama, Al-Fajr, Al-Tahadi and Al-Gharib Youth had qualified for the second round of the tournament and were divided into two groups. Whatsapp Telegram Email Print more of (Local)
