Hamas is Afraid
Powerline
The fearless holy warriors of Hamas have canceled a major rally, out of fear for their holy rear ends: Hamas cancels annual Gaza rally for fear of Israeli reprisal.
Fearing an Israeli reprisal attack, Hamas has decided to cancel a major rally marking the 17th anniversary of its founding.
The rally was supposed to be held in one of Gaza City’s stadiums on Friday, but Hamas decided to postpone it indefinitely out of fear that Israel would target the Islamic movement’s leaders in retaliation for Sunday’s attack on an IDF outpost near Rafah, in which five soldiers were killed and six others wounded.
“For security reasons, and because of Israeli threats to target Palestinians, Hamas has decided to call off the annual rally,” said Hamas spokesman Mushir al-Masri. “We are aware that the decision will come as bad news to Hamas supporters, who have been looking forward to seeing the Hamas leaders for the first time in more than one year.”
Hamas, in a statement on the anniversary of its establishment, reiterated its opposition to a cease-fire with Israel and said the “resistance remains our strategic option.”
The Glory of Shari'a
A mentally disabled teenage girl faces the death penalty in Iran, after being sold into prostitution by her own mother: Mentally-ill girl who was sold for sex faces death penalty in Iran.
A teenage girl with a mental age of eight is facing the death penalty for prostitution in Iran. The trial comes only four months after the hanging of another mentally ill girl for sex before marriage in a case that has prompted a human rights lawyer to prepare a charge of wrongful execution against the presiding judge.
The girl, known as Leyla M, is in prison while the Supreme Court decides on her “acts contrary to chastity”, among the most serious charges under Iranian law. Under the penal code, girls as young as nine and boys as young as 15 can be executed.
In an interview on a Persian-language website, the 19-year-old says she was forced into prostitution by her mother at the age of eight. Amnesty International refers to reports that say she was repeatedly raped, bore her first child aged nine and was passed from pimp to pimp before having another three children.
She told the website: “The first time I was taken to a man’s house by my mum I was eight. It was a horrible night and I cried a lot but then my mum came the next day and took me home. She bought me chocolate and cheese curls.”
Iranian press reports say Leyla was charged with controlling a brothel, having sex with blood relatives and bearing an illegitimate child. Amnesty says the court refused to admit social workers’ evidence of her young mental age and convicted her on the basis of confessions. |
