Thursday morning, House Committee Chairman and Maintenance Director Jim Mitchneck worked to cover up the words sprayed onto the front of the building, which read in all caps letter, "Free Palestine" on one side, and "God Bless Gaza" on the other.
Mitchneck, who has led services at the building for the last 14 years and attended since 1982, said he became aware of the graffiti when a parishioner drove by Wednesday down Westford Street and saw the graffiti.
"This just cuts deep," he said, noting he is the grandchild of a Holocaust survivor. "My grandmother told me about her experiences ... and, you know, it starts like this."
Mitchneck said this is not the first time his synagogue suffered a hate crime. In the 1990s, he said a swastika was sprayed onto the building. Then, seven years ago, gang-related tags were sprayed on the front of the building in black paint, in the same spot. Mitchneck worked to cover the paint up then, too, but said those markings were not as disturbing as the ones this week.
"It was just territory marking. We knew those were not targeting," he said.
Mitchneck noted the synagogue has not received threats accompanying these latest markings, but he is still concerned. His synagogue has requested an increase in a police presence for the area.
"Threats are one thing, but when there's activity, it goes to another stage," he said. More here
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Jihadists in the northern Syrian province of Raqa have accused a woman of adultery and stoned her to death, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Friday.
It was the first 'execution' of its kind by the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria, which has proclaimed the establishment of an Islamic 'caliphate' straddling Syria and Iraq.
"The Islamic State carried out its first sentence of death by stoning against a woman in Tabaqa, accusing her of adultery," said the Britain-based Observatory, referring to a town in Raqa province, most of which is under IS control.
An activist in the province confirmed the report, and said the stoning took place in a public square in Tabaqa on Thursday evening.
"This is the first time that this has happened here," added Abu Ibrahim.
More here
Muslim inmates in L.A.'s jails have complained to community groups over the past couple of years that they've been denied the congregational prayer services afforded to inmates of other religions. They appealed to the ACLU of Southern California and the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California, which sent a letter to the department in March asking for change.
Then, a couple of months ago, the sheriff's department issued a directive, instructing deputies working the jails to allow communal prayers. Earlier this week, the department updated the directive--agreeing to provide chaplains of other faiths to lead services when an Imam's not available.
"It's just us taking that extra step to make sure everybody understands what's going on and everybody's respectful of everybody's religious rights," said Sgt. Juan Martinez.
Shakeel Syed, executive director of the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California, said the change is a big one for Muslim inmates, who have lacked the benefits and comfort of communal prayer.
"That's an inherent human right of every human being to seek spiritual guidance and connection with whoever they choose to," Syed said.
Syed said he hopes all jails in the system will eventually be able to allow larger scale communal religious gatherings. SOURCE
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A man has been jailed for six years for raping a teenage girl in Walton.
Zeeshaan Sheikh, 21, of Linkway, Woking, was sentenced at Guildford Crown Court on Monday (June 30).
Surrey Police said Sheikh picked up the victim, who was aged 14 at the time, in November 2012 and then drove to a hotel car park in Walton where he raped her.
Soon after the incident Sheikh flew to Pakistan, but he was arrested on his return a few weeks later by police officers at Heathrow Airport.
Detective Constable Gordon Krebel said: "This outcome has been made possible thanks to the bravery of the victim combined with tireless work of a number of dedicated officers. READ MORE
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“Israel is acting like a spoiled child,” Yildirim said. “Jewish tourists, don’t dare come to Turkey. Tonight and tomorrow we are going to hold a different kind of protest, we do not have patience anymore.”
“The Zionists are putting the future of the Jews in danger, we can not hold back our youngsters anymore,” he said.
At the Israeli Consulate in Istanbul and the Israeli Embassy in Ankara crowds of protesters gathered and shouted anti-Israel slogans.
“Fight! Martyrdom!” they were heard saying in Istanbul. Protesters attempted to enter the building where the Consulate is located three times and lit a fire nearby. Haber Turk described the scene as a “battlefield environment” and rioters were seen throwing stones and bottles at police.
In Ankara an Israeli flag was removed by rioters and replaced by Palestinian and Turkish flags. Police were able to push the crowd back at times. Among the rioters were some of the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) parliament members, according to local reports. After some time, police used tear gas to confront the protesters.
Ankara’s mayor, Melih Gökçek was quick to add fuel to the flames, tweeting about the Embassy, “It will be taken… The despicable murderers’ Consulate has to be kicked out of Turkey. We do not want an Embassy in Turkey of the murderers!”
A Turkish Jewish activist who is familiar with the situation on the ground told The Algemeiner that the environment is not safe for Turkish Jews.
The activist, who did not wish to be named, said that anti-Semitic and anti-Israel elements in Turkey have been “given a free pass” by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government.
Two days ago, local newspaper Yeni Akit, affiliated with Erdogan, called on the country’s Jewish community to apologize for the casualties of Israel’s operation in Gaza. In an open letter to Turkey’s chief rabbi, correspondent Faruk Köse wrote, “You have lived comfortably among us for 500 years and gotten rich at our expense. Is this your gratitude – killing Muslims? Erdogan, demand that the community leader apologize!” READ MORE
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It wasn’t till the police arrested two suspects that they found out he had been hiding something.
After going through cell phones of the men they arrested, the police found videos which showed that not only had the dacoits robbed the family blind but had also raped four women including Paryal’s niece.
On the night of May 25, seven men broke into Paryal’s house in Memon Mohallah in Rasoolabad Town. At the time of the incident, he was the only man at home with five women of the family – his mother, his wife, two sisters-in-law and a niece.
At first the dacoits took all the cash, gold, other valuables and then proceeded to gang rape four of the women. Paryal’s mother was spared due to her age.
When Paryal informed relatives and neighours about what happened the next day, they told him to go register the FIR but not mention anything about the gang rape as it had caused ‘dishonour’ to the family. Paryal did what he was told and lodged an FIR against seven unknown men for robbing his house.
A couple of days later, the police arrested two suspects identified as Rafiq Sahito and Saleem Sahito. During the investigation, they were going through the suspects cell phones and found videos of the gang rape. They went and asked Paryal if the women of his family had been raped as the act had been recorded on the perpetrators’ cell phones.
Presented with the footage of the incident, Paryal decided to lodge another FIR against seven men, including Saleem Sahito, Rafiq Sahito, Aijaz Machi and Laloo Samito.
The second FIR was lodged more than a month ago and the police have yet to arrest the men nominated in it.
While talking to The Express Tribune, Paryal said that he was disappointed with the police’s performance and added that he had filed a constitutional petition at the Sindh High Court’s Sukkur bench. He claimed that the court had summoned the home secretary, Sindh IG, Sukkur DIG, Khairpur SSP and Hingorja police station SHO to appear before the court on July 21 and state why the police had failed to nab the culprits. He added that the culprits had ‘dishonoured’ his family and all he wanted now was justice.
Paryal claimed that office bearers of the Sindhi Memon Association had held press conference in Hingorja and demanded that the men should be arrested immediately.
According to him, the association also decided to stage protests outside Karachi Press Club on July 17. The women of his family, he claimed, will also participate in the protest. Khairpur SSP Usman Ghani was not available for comments.
Taking notice
Sindh home secretary Dr Niaz Ali Abbasi took notice of the gang rape in Rasoolabad. He instructed the police officers to arrest the accused immediately, and take strict action against them in accordance with the law. Abbasi directed the police officers to take special measures to ensure justice to the affected family. Moreover, he sought a report regarding the incident from the police.
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A 22-year-old university student was allegedly shot dead on campus by her husband on Wednesday in an apparent honour killing.
According to the New Town police, Muhammad Shoaib entered Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University (AAU), Rawalpindi, and after a heated argument with Saira Naveed, took out a pistol and shot her in the head.
The woman, an eighth semester BS Computer Sciences student and a resident of Afshan Colony, Qasim Market, died on the spot, after which Shoaib, a 25-year-old student of Comsats Institute of Information Technology, was overpowered by AAU guards and handed over to the police.
Saira’s body was shifted to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences. Police officials said Shoaib claimed that Saira was his wife and accused her of having an extramarital affair.
“I tried my best to make her stop cheating on me but she did not listen and forced me to do this,” Shoaib was quoted as saying by the police. Shoaib said the two had contracted a court marriage some four years ago without the consent of Saira’s parents.
Shoaib told the police that when the marriage was later revealed to them, Saira’s parents reportedly threatened to disown her if she shifted to his house. Due to her parents’ resistance, Saira refused to move in with him, Shoaib claimed.
Rawal Town Superintendent of Police Malik Karamat called the murder an ‘honour’ killing, adding that the alleged killer had already confessed to the police.
Talking to The Express Tribune, AAU students said Shoaib would often visit Saira on campus and would frequently argue. They said Shoaib had been involved in extra-marital affairs and was “offended” when Saira questioned his actions.
Students also criticised the university administration for failing to ensure proper security as Shoaib was able to enter the premises with a weapon.
“Three months ago, workers of a political party, equipped with sophisticated weapons, stormed the university. The incident was the result of a quarrel between the student wings of two political parties. There was no one to stop them and the vice-chancellor (VC) just hushed up the matter,” said a student, who requested not to be named due to fear of action by the varsity.
Students said a lot of their colleagues carry weapons but there is no one to take action against them. AAU VC Dr Rai Niaz and university spokesperson Musa Kaleem could not be reached despite several attempts. SOURCE
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