#Sami Younis

[softestaura]

"Modern Love" Numéro #190, February 2018 Laurie Bartley featuring Sora Choi & Sami Younis

[vyorei]

This is too much for the heart to take

[elvain]

FUNDRAISER MASTERPOST

version date: July 29, 2024

Ghazi Younis / gofundme / verification / $2,405 USD of $50,000

Raneen Ibrahim (tumblr deleted) / gofundme / verification / €2,605 of €80,000

Dr. Ahmed M. A. Hamad / gofundme / verification / kr 1,731 SEK of kr400,000

Iyad Sami / gofundme / verification / CHF 9,785 of CHF 20,000

Bilal Abed Rabou / gofundme / verification / €3,788 of €80,000

Abdul Rahman / gofundme / verification / €12,651 of €20,000

Mahmoud Khalaf / gofundme / verification / €16,468 of €30,000

Ahmed Ziad / gofundme / verification / £7,844 of £30,000

Asmaa Majed / gofundme / verification / $953 USD of $50,000

Ashraf Alanqar / gofundme / verification / €13,159 of €20,000

Laila Shaqoura / gofundme / verification / €26,766 of €45,000

Moamen Majed / gofundme / verification / $7,480 USD of $30,000

Ahmed N. Alanqar / gofundme / verification / €40,741 of €49,000

Aya Alanqar / gofundme / verification / €4,665 of €15,000

Salahaldin Ahmad Khalil Hor / gofundme / verification / €2,591 of €40,000

Dr. Mohammed Aldeeb / gofundme / verification / €31,071 of €50,000

Mohammed Atallah / gofundme / verification / €7,147 of €82,000

Eman Salem / gofundme / verification / €2,436 of €30,000

Amal Alanqar / gofundme / verification / €3,130 of €50,000

Mohammed Hussain Ismaeel / gofundme / verification / €6,813 of €25,000

[sayruq]

NAHLA AL-ARIAN HAS been living a nightmare for the past seven months, watching from afar as Israel carries out its scorched-earth war against her ancestral homeland in the Gaza Strip. Like many Palestinian Americans, the 63-year-old retired fourth-grade teacher from Tampa Bay, Florida, has endured seven months of a steady trickle of WhatsApp messages about the deaths of her relatives. “You see, my father’s family is originally from Gaza, so they are a big family. And they are not only in Gaza City, but also in Deir al Balah and Khan Younis, other parts,” Al-Arian told me. Recently, the trickle of horrors became a flood: “It started with like 27, and then we lost count until I received this message from my relative who said at least 200 had died.” The catastrophe was the backdrop for Al-Arian’s visit last week to Columbia University in New York City. Al-Arian has five children, four of whom are journalists or filmmakers. On April 25, two of her daughters, Laila and Lama, both award-winning TV journalists, visited the encampment established by Columbia students to oppose the war in Gaza. Laila, an executive producer at Al Jazeera English with Emmys and a George Polk Award to her name, is a graduate of Columbia’s journalism school. Lama was the recipient of the prestigious 2021 Alfred I. duPont–Columbia Award for her reporting for Vice News on the 2020 explosion at the port of Beirut. The two sisters traveled to Columbia as journalists to see the campus, and Nahla joined them. “Of course, I tagged along. You know, why would I sit at the hotel by myself? And I wanted to really see those kids. I felt so down,” she said. “I was crying every day for Gaza, for the children being killed, for the women, the destruction of my father’s city, so I wanted to feel better, you know, to see those kids. I heard a lot about them, how smart they are, how organized, you know? So I said, let’s go along with you. So I went.” Nahla Al-Arian was on the campus for less than an hour. She sat and listened to part of a teach-in, and shared some hummus with her daughters and some students. Then she left, feeling a glimmer of hope that people — at least these students — actually cared about the suffering and deaths being inflicted on her family in Gaza. “I didn’t teach them anything. They are the ones who taught me. They are the ones who gave me hope,” she recalled. “I felt much better when I went there because I felt those kids are really very well informed, very well educated. They are the conscience of America. They care about the Palestinian people who they never saw or got to meet.” Her husband posted a picture of Nahla, sitting on the lawn at the tent city erected by the student protesters, on his Twitter feed. “My wife Nahla in solidarity with the brave and very determined Columbia University students,” he wrote. Nahla left New York, inspired by her visit to Columbia, and returned to Virginia to spend time with her grandchildren. A few days later, that one tweet by her husband would thrust Nahla Al-Arian into the center of a spurious narrative promoted by the mayor of New York City and major media outlets. She became the exemplar of the dangerous “outside agitator” who was training the students at Columbia. It was Nahla’s presence, according to Mayor Eric Adams, that was the “tipping point” in his decision to authorize the military-style raids on the campus.

On February 20, 2003, Nahla’s husband, Sami Al-Arian, a professor at the University of South Florida, was arrested and indicted on 53 counts of supporting the armed resistance group Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The PIJ had been designated by the U.S. government as a terrorist organization, and the charges against Al-Arian could have put him in prison for multiple life sentences, plus 225 years. It was a centerpiece case of the George W. Bush administration’s domestic “war on terror.” When John Ashcroft, Bush’s notorious attorney general, announced the indictment, he described the Florida-based scholar as “the North American leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Sami Al-Arian.” Among the charges against him was conspiracy to kill or maim persons abroad, specifically in Israel, yet the prosecutors openly admitted Al-Arian had no connection to any violence. He was a well-known and deeply respected figure in the Tampa community, where he and Nahla raised their family. He was also, like many fellow Palestinians, a tenacious critic of U.S. support for Israel and of the burgeoning “global war on terror.” His arrest came just days before the U.S. invaded Iraq, a war Al-Arian was publicly opposed to. The Al-Arian case was, at its core, a political attack waged by Bush’s Justice Department as part of a wider assault on the rights of Muslims in the U.S. The government launched a campaign, echoed in media outlets, to portray Al-Arian as a terror leader at a time when the Bush administration was ratcheting up its so-called global war on terror abroad, and when Muslims in the U.S. were being subjected to harassment, surveillance, and abuse. The legal case against Al-Arian was flimsy, and prosecutors largely sought to portray his protected First Amendment speech and charitable activities as terrorism. The trial against Al-Arian, a legal permanent resident in the U.S., did not go well for federal prosecutors. In December 2005, following a six-month trial, a jury acquitted him on eight of the most serious counts and deadlocked 10-2 in favor of acquittal on the other nine. The judge made clear he was not pleased with this outcome, and the prosecutors were intent on relitigating the case. Al-Arian had spent two years in jail already without any conviction and was staring down the prospect of years more. In the face of this reality and the toll the trial against him had taken on his family, Al-Arian agreed to take a plea deal. In 2006, he pleaded guilty to one count of providing nonviolent support to people the government alleged were affiliated with the PIJ. As part of the deal, Al-Arian would serve a short sentence and, with his residency revoked, get an expedited deportation. At no point during the government’s trial against Al-Arian did the prosecution provide evidence he was connected to any acts of violence. For the next eight years following his release from prison in 2008, Al-Arian was kept under house arrest and effectively subjected to prosecutorial harassment as the government sought to place him in what his lawyers characterized as a judicial trap by compelling him to testify in a separate case. His defense lawyers alleged the federal prosecutor in the case, who had a penchant for pursuing high-profile, political cases, held an anti-Palestinian bias. Amnesty International raised concerns that Al-Arian had been abused in prison and he faced the prospect of yet another lengthy, costly court battle. The saga would stretch on for several more years before prosecutors ended the case and Al-Arian was deported from the United States.

“This case remains one of the most troubling chapters in this nation’s crackdown after 9-11,” Al-Arian’s lawyer, Jonathan Turley, wrote in 2014 when the case was officially dropped. “Despite the jury verdict and the agreement reached to allow Dr. Al-Arian to leave the country, the Justice Department continued to fight for his incarceration and for a trial in this case. It will remain one of the most disturbing cases of my career in terms of the actions taken by our government.” That federal prosecutors approved Al-Arian’s plea deal gave a clear indication that the U.S. government knew Al-Arian was not an actual terrorist, terrorist facilitator, or any kind of threat; the Bush administration, after all, was not in the habit of letting suspected terrorists walk. Al-Arian and his family have always maintained his innocence and say that he was being targeted for his political beliefs and activism on behalf of Palestinians. He resisted the deal, Nahla Al-Arian said. “He didn’t even want to accept it. He wanted to move on with another trial,” Nahla said. “But because of our pressure on him, let’s just get done with it [because] in the end, we’re going leave anyway. So that’s why.” Sami and Nahla Al-Arian now live in Turkey. Sami is not allowed to visit his children and grandchildren stateside, but Nahla visits often.

[watermelllonarchive]

Updated and reorganized the resources post (pinned on my blog) but wanted to share in a separate post as well <3

Resources

To see the most up-to-date version of this post, see my pinned post.

A note on ownership: I don't own these videos. The creators of these videos want me to remove their content, contact me through DM and I'll do so. :)

1. Go Fund Me

I'm making a list of every Go Fund Me or donation link from accounts shared on this blog! If you have interacted with the posts or felt moved by the stories they shared, please consider donating to help them and their families. (Note: not all accounts shared on watermelllonarchive have GFM or other fundraising campaigns.)

Click on names to see their previous posts!

Listed alphabetically by first name

Abdallah Zaqout - GFM for evacuating his family (Link) Update: Abdallah was able to evacuate in March 2024, but his family remains in Gaza.

Abdel Kouta - GFM for Abdel (Canadian citizen) to return to his wife and kids in Canada. (Link) Update: Abdel has left Gaza. The GFM is still open to help cover living expenses.

Ahmed Younis - GFM to help him evacuate Gaza. (Link)

Amir Gharabawi - GFM to help evacuate his family (link) Update: Amir and a few family members have left Gaza. The GFM is still open to cover living expenses and safe passage for his siblings.

Anas Matar - GFM to help rebuild his home (link)

Ashraf and Aboud Almajaida - GFM to help them and their family (link)

Asma Al-shaikh- While Asma has evacuated, there is an ongoing GFM to help her family and fiance leave Gaza. (link)

Bashar Zaneen - GFM to help evacuate him and his mother (link) Update: Bashar evacuated Gaza in May. His family, including his mom, are still in Gaza and the GFM remains open.

Hasan Almoghani - GFM to help Hasan and his family in Northern Gaza afford food and necessities (link)

Hosam Soboh - GFM to help rebuild his home and business (link)

Kholoud Nassar - GFM to support her family in Gaza (link)

Mahmoud Alghrbawi - GFM to help evacuate his family (link)

Maram Alshurafa - GFM for evacuating her family (link)

Medo Halimy- GFM to support his and his family's evacuation. (Link)

Meera Asfour - GFM to support her family and help them evacuate (link)

Nadia Abu Shaban - GFM for evacuating her family (link) Update: Nadia and her family evacuated in May 2024.

Nisreen Shehada - GFM to evacuate her family who remains in Gaza (link) Update: Nisreen left Gaza in late March. Her family is still in Gaza and were scheduled to leave the day IOF took Rafah Crossing.

Nour Elhouda Musabeh (Nouur97) - GFM to help her and her family afford food and other essentials. (Link)

Rahaf Shamaly - GFM for her family to join her in Egypt. (link)

Sami Alsultan - GFM to help Sami and his family rebuild (link)

Shoroq Isawi- GFM to help her family evacuate. (link) Update: Shoroq evacuated March 2024. Her family is still in Gaza and the GFM remains open.

Tala Darwish - GFM to support her studies and evacuation from Gaza (link)

2. Actions

Contacting Representatives

Canada - MPs by Constituencies

CJPME tool to help call representatives

leadnow.ca script and tracker to call your representatives

Amnesty International

United States - Federal, state, and local representatives

5calls website to help call your reps

Action Network form to write to your representatives

USPCR advice and scripts for contacting congress

Jewish Voices for Peace

Need a script?

Humanti Project has some messages for emailing representatives, which you can use or take as inspiration.

Form letters and email campaigns

These links allow you to send a pre-written email. Just enter your contact information!

Jewish Voices for Peace (USA)

Congress: demand Biden reinstate UNRWA finding

President Biden: demand an immediate ceasefire now

US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USA)

Email Congress: End the Gaza Genocide

Email universities: Divest now and stop repressing protests

Medial Aid for Palestinians (UK)

Email your MP: Protect Palestinians in Gaza Against Atrocities

Petitions

USCPR: Demand Biden and Congress Acknowledge the ICC’s Authority and Put a Stop to the Genocide in Gaza

Amnesty International: Demand a ceasefire by all parties to end civilian suffering

Buying eSims

Purchase internet access for someone in Gaza with eSims for Gaza

Daily Clicks

Arab.org - Watch an advertisement, and the money goes to the UNRWA. (View their quarterly donation receipts here)

3. Conflicts across the globe

While this blog focuses on Palestine, there are other conflicts that deserve our attention. Please consider donating what you can to one or more of the charities below, or share the links with friends and family.

Democratic Republic of the Congo 🇨🇩

7 million people have been displaced due to violence between armed groups and government. Millions more face disease, starvation, and continued violence.

Focus Congo - founded in 2016 by a Congolese refugee Pappy Orion who escaped the Congo during the first and second Congo Wars of the late 1990s.

Help Women in the Democratic Republic of Congo- This effort, organized and run by Women for Women International, supports Congolese women escape violence and recover through education, job training, access to doctors, and cash assistance.

Sudan 🇸🇩

Violence between opposing factions of the Sudanese security forces have resulted in over 8.5 million people being displaced and millions more struggling to access food, medicine, and safety.

CARE International Switzerland - CARE has been in Sudan before the current conflict and runs programs helping refugees.

International Rescue Committee - IRC has increased their ongoing efforts in Sudan and have launched new programs to address water and sanitation.

[satellitebroadcast]

Currently in the West Bank by Middle East Observer: Telegram

The occupation forces continue their aggression on Tulkarm for the third consecutive day. Continuous military reinforcements towards Tulkarm city. Tulkarm Education Directorate: Suspension of work today, Thursday, in all public and private schools and kindergartens in the city to preserve the safety of students and teachers. Occupation forces continue to storm the city of Tubas, north of the occupied West Bank The occupation forces arrest Hanoud Salmi and Musa Younis in the city of Qalqilya. The occupation forces stormed an agricultural nursery and a restaurant in the town of Al-Khader, south of Bethlehem, and vandalized their contents. The occupation forces stormed several homes of the Shiha, Abu Asab and Halwa families in the town of Anata in the city of Jerusalem, searched them and interrogated their residents, at dawn today. The occupation forces stormed the village of Al-Lubban Al-Gharbi, northwest of Ramallah, and arrested Salah Muhammad Samhan, Muhammad Kamel Nasser, and Osama Muhammad Salama. The occupation forces re-arrested Birzeit University student Moatasem Arman after storming his home in the village of Ein Yabroud in Ramallah at dawn today. Arrests in the town of Sa'ir, north of Hebron, during the raid on the town at dawn today: - Qusay Nimer Al-Froukh. - Mamoun Aziz Al-Froukh. - Riyad Sami Al-Jaradat. - Khalil Ibrahim Al-Shalaldeh. - Ahmed Samih Al-Shalaldeh. - Musab Muhammad Al-Jabareen. - Alaa Fahim Al-Shalaldeh. - Khalil Ibrahim Shalaldeh.

The citizen Sufyan Jawad Fayez Abdul Jawad (46 years old) was killed after being shot in the heart by an israeli sniper during the storming of the Far’a camp, after midnight last night, coinciding with the ongoing aggression on the city of Tubas, which has been ongoing for more than 24 hours.

[negative-speedforce]

This Week's Gaza Fundraisers:

@drfarhatblog Vetted here (248). $8,792 out of $29,500.

@ghaziyounes1967 Vetted here, $4,961 out of $50,000

@motaz352 Vetted here. kr51,598 SEK out of kr250,000.

@mohammedswierh2 Not vetted but likely legit. $12,676 out of $40,000.

@abedallhferwanagaza Vetted here. €5,391 out of €35,000

@dodoomar12345 Vetted here. kr205,517 SEK out of kr300,000.

@samialkhalili Not vetted but likely legit. €155 out of €50,000. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS!!!

@olasaqer Vetted here. €3,732 out of €35,000. Young widow with children!

@nourasissue3 Not vetted but likely legit. €123 out of €5,000. Family is in Egypt, but needs funds to rebuild their lives.

Let's all get together and get all our spare money and help these lovely families get to safety! If you don't have anything to spare, please reblog to help them get some reach.

[tieflingkisser]

Pushed to the edge, starved and exhausted, Rafah IDPs struggle to survive

With Rafah under attack, desperate families have been forced to head back to a decimated Khan Younis while others headed to the adjacent encampment at Al-Mawasi

Um Ahmad frantically counted her children as they lay in a tent near Abu Youssef Al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah. Israeli bombs were raining down all around her. She was terrified. “One, two, three, four, five,” she counted, her voice shaking with dread. She had lost a sixth child during their second forced displacement from Khan Younis months ago. She was not prepared to lose another.  Trembling, the 45-year-old scrambled to carry whatever she could on one arm and slung her four-year-old special needs son on the other. The eldest of her children was barely 12, but old enough to watch the little ones, who silently followed along.  Tearful, destitute and with no other choice, she set off on a 10-kilometre trek back to Khan Younis with no destination in mind, her only support, the kindness of strangers. With her husband trapped in Gaza City in the north, she didn’t think she would ever see him again. Um Ahmad and her kids are among merely 360,000 people who fled Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah earlier this month when Israel ordered a mass evacuation, according to a UN report. 

[...]

Desperate families were forced to leave what little they had behind and head back to a decimated Khan Younis where they moved back into what remained of their destroyed homes. Others headed to the adjacent seafront encampment at Al-Mawasi, where people use seawater for washing and walk at least four kilometres for a jerry can of drinkable water. 

[...]

Ahmed K., who preferred to withhold his last name, recounted his ordeal following the bombing of his three-story family home in Rafah in an Israeli air raid, which killed his mother and two other family members.    “Me, my sister, grandmother and uncle survived,” said Ahmed, 29, recalling how it took three hours to rescue him from under the rubble where he was trapped in what used to be his refuge. Ahmed, who is single, had a head injury and the lower part of his foot was shattered. He waited two full days, partly on a hospital floor in Abu Youssef Al-Najjar, before undergoing emergency surgery. He had no access to specialised doctors or treatment due to the overwhelming number of casualties requiring immediate attention. Long before he was ready to move, the entire hospital had to be evacuated. He was placed on a wooden cart for about 10 kilometres all the way to Khan Younis.  “Before the Israeli invasion of Rafah, life was very difficult but still livable,” said Ahmed. “Now it is unbearable.” “It’s a miracle I was able to make it to Al-Mawasi in Khan Younis,” he said.

[...]

“I lost everything,” Dr Sami (not his real name) told The New Arab. “My home, my dignity, my savings, my whole being.” Dr Sami preferred to remain anonymous and refused to have his picture taken because, as he said, he could not tolerate the “humiliation” of appearing in this state in front of his students. The 49-year-old parasitology professor at Gaza’s Islamic University is married with three children, the eldest 15. This was the eighth time he has been displaced: from north Gaza to west Gaza, then to east Khan Younis, to west Khan Younis, to Rafah and now he is back in Khan Younis. With a hammer and nails, he mustered whatever was left of his strength to build a wooden hut to protect his family from the heat and rain. His hair was dishevelled, his eyes were bulging and he said he lost 27 kilogrammes of his weight.  “In East Khan Younis, I shared a house with 24 other families,” he said.  At one point as he headed south from west Gaza to east Khan Younis, he was stopped by Israeli occupation forces, stripped to his underwear, robbed of his money and personal belongings, and left to walk for four kilometres, amid relentless bombing, with no food or water.  “I’m lucky to have this wheelbarrow to help me carry what little remains of my life,” Dr Sami said, tossing a broken wooden plank into a small fire.

[catdotjpeg]

On 26 October, the Palestinian Ministry of Health released the list of names of Palestinians killed since 7 October. Among them, from the al-Kahlot family, are:

Jihad Muhammad Hussein (73) and his daughter, Khawlah Jihad Muhammad (41);

Suhail Hassan Ahmed (65) and his children Hassan Suhail Hassan (34), Haya Suhail Hassan (31), Ahmed Suhail Hassan (28), Mahmud Suhail Hassan (26), Hadi Suhail Hassan (25), and Abdul Rahman Suhail Hassan (19);

Ghada Abdel Rahman Younis (55);

Shakir Marzouk Shakir (48), his wife, and their children Raghad Shakir Marzouk (10), Malik Shakir Marzouk (9), Abdullah Shakir Marzouk (8), and Adam Shakir Marzouk (4);

Wail Hassan Mahmoud (46), his wife Amna, and their twin daughters, Rahaf and Rafif Wail Hassan;

Hind Abdelkarim Abdel Rahim (42);

Fatima Khamis Abid (42);

Iffat Zein Rabah (39);

Muhammad Mahir Abdel Rahman (39) and his son Zayn al-Din Muhammad Mahir (2);

‘Isam Mahmoud Muhammad (38), his wife, and their children Nur 'Isam Mahmoud (11), Muhammad 'Isam Mahmoud (5), and Amal 'Isam Mahmoud (13);

Wafaa Yusuf Ali (38);

Abdelfattah Ezzo Abdelfattah (33), a banker and father, remembered as an "ambitious young man since his childhood, loving, courteous, and generous, always willing to serve friends, relatives, and anyone he could;"

Ahmed Maher Abdel Rahman (29);

Rawan Sami Yusuf (29);

Yusuf Rami Abdel Rahim (11);

Sarah Hassan Marzouk (11) and her siblings Hazim Hassan Marzouk (8) and Sally Hassan Marzouk (2);

Omar Bilal Bashir (6);

Yusuf Nael Ismail (6);

Muhammad Bahaa el-Din Awad (4);

Siham Ibrahim Abdelkarim (2);

Muhammad Ahmed Suhail (2);

Halima Abdelkarim, an artist and facilitator with the Palestinian Ministry of Culture, described as having a "unique perspective on life reflected in her artwork";

Majed Abdel Wahab Bakr (6);

Safiyyah Ibrahim Abdelkader (58);

Malik Hamdi Abdullah (19);

and Jana Mahmoud Ahmed (8).

You can read more about the human lives lost in Palestine on the Martyrs of Gaza Twitter account and on my blog.

[theivorybilledwoodpecker]

2h ago (20:20 GMT)Scenes of horror and anguish from Gaza Outside a morgue in Khan Younis, Samy al-Najeila carried the body of a child. He said he and his sons were preparing to evacuate their home, “but the occupation didn’t give us any time”. Their three-floor building was completely destroyed. “The whole block was totally destroyed,” he said. “Five people are still under the rubble. God help us.” Outside a Gaza City hospital, a dust-covered boy named Saaed Khalid Shehta dropped to his knees beside the bloodied body of his little brother, Mohammad, one of several laid out after people said their street was hit by air attacks. He kissed him. “You bury me with him!” the boy cried.

[softestaura]

"Modern Love" Numéro #190, February 2018 Laurie Bartley featuring Sora Choi & Sami Younis

[darkmaga-retard]

Israeli soldiers on Sunday "deliberately targeted" and wounded journalists from Turkish broadcaster TRT Arabi, in the latest attack on media personnel amid the war in Gaza.

The crew’s car was reportedly shot at by long-barreled weapons during a field mission northwest of Khan Younis, with five bullets hitting the vehicle, which bore a press badge.

TRT Arabi’s correspondent Sami Barhoum sustained minor wounds to his leg, he told the Arabic-language broadcaster, adding that the soldiers "directly targeted their faces and chests".

"We were on a field mission, [and] this car is for the press. To wear the protective gear and helmet is all that indicates that we are journalists," he said.

Images shared online later showed visible damage to the crew's car, including shattered glass.

[sa7abnews]

Israel army 'deliberately' targets TRT Arabi crew in Khan Younis

New Post has been published on Sa7ab News

Israel army 'deliberately' targets TRT Arabi crew in Khan Younis

Sami Barhoum was among the TRT Arabi crew who were deliberately targeted by an Israeli attack while carrying out field work in the vicinity of Khan Younis.

... read more !

[actual-sleeping-beauty]

Refusing a deal to secure the safe return of your citizens because you want to continue a genocide gives new meaning to "showing your true colors."

Netanyahu rejects Hamas conditions for Israeli hostage deal

Image ID: JERUSALEM, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday rejected conditions presented by Hamas to end the war and release hostages that would include Israel's complete withdrawal and leaving Hamas in power in Gaza.

As Israeli planes resumed bombing Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters the Israeli leader's refusal to end the military offensive in Gaza "means there is no chance for the return of the (Israeli) captives."

[sayruq]

On Monday, April 15, the Palestinian Football Association announced that three children from the Al-Wahda Sports Academy had been killed during Israeli raids in Deir al-Balah, located in the heart of the Gaza Strip. “We announce the martyrdom of players Sami Bilal Abu Issa and Muhammad Bilal Abu Issa,” Al Wahda Academy announced on its Facebook account, which followed up by announcing the death of Adam Ramez Nabhan in another Israeli bombing. “Our hearts break for their loss.” The three children—the youngest of whom was was four years old, with the other two aged six—are among the hundreds of Palestinian athletes who have been killed since the war broke out between Israel and Hamas on October 7, 2023. Later that same day, the PFA revealed that at least 182 athletes and sports officials had been killed amid Israel’s destruction of Gaza, including no less than 28 children. An overwhelming number of the athletes killed were members of Gaza’s once vibrant football ecosystem. Among the notable names is Hani Al-Masdar, a former player and manager of the Olympic team, and Mohammed Barakat, Gaza’s first centurion of goals and a former national team player known as the “Legend of Khan Younis.” Israel has also destroyed or partially dozens of football facilities in Palestine since the start of the war. These include all of Gaza’s professional football stadiums, as well as the PFA headquarters, which was also targeted by Israeli airstrikes. Meanwhile, smaller facilities and dirt pitches have been transformed into makeshift refugee camps, field hospitals, and mass graves.

You can find the entire list of athletes murdered or injured by Israel in link above

[pct-zindabad]

Pakistan's Misbah-ul-Haq

Misbah as a captain has been more celebrated than Misbah as a batsman. He was Pakistan's most successful Test skipper with 26 wins under his name. However, his contributions with the bat too were truly extraordinary at times. From equalling the record for the fastest Test ton, taking the fewest balls to a fifty in the process, to becoming one of the oldest batsmen to score a Test hundred – his performances form a major part of Pakistan's cricket history.

Tests

101* v Australia, Abu Dhabi, 2014: Perhaps, the most un-Misbah like innings ever. Traditionally known for his cautious and restrained batting approach, Misbah defied the norm to produce one of the finest batting displays as he slammed the then fastest Test hundred – equalling Viv Richards' record – in just 56 balls. Already building on Pakistan's solid score of 332/3, Misbah took the Australia bowlers on, taking his team past the 500-mark. His performance ensured Pakistan also achieved their then-largest victory over Australia, by 356 runs.

114 v England, Lord's, 2016: At 42, Misbah became the oldest captain to score a century in his first Test appearance in England. His was the only centurion in Pakistan's first-innings, taking their total to 339. He came to bat when the visitors were struggling at 77/3 and proceeded to hit his 10th Test ton, pairing with Younis Khan and Asad Shafiq in the middle order. He celebrated the knock by removing his helmet, getting down on the ground and performing a flurry of push-ups. Misbah's knock coupled with excellent bowling from Yasir Shah gave Pakistan a famous 75-run win over the hosts.

82 v India, Delhi, 2007: Although the slow 82-run knock came in a losing cause, his performance went a long way in helping Pak put up a strong fight. Electing to bat first, the visitors had lost half of their side before reaching the 100-run mark. Misbah then shouldered the burden with a cautious half-century even as wickets fell at the other end. The next best score after him was Kamran Akmal's 30, but Misbah dropped anchor and continued to grind. He added 87 with Akmal for the ninth wicket and was the penultimate wicket to fall, helping the visitors to a modest 231. He followed that up with a fighting 45 in the second innings but a low target meant that India achieved a six-wicket victory on the final day.

161* v India, Kolkata, 2007: After losing the first Test of the series in Delhi and with India piling on 616/5d in the first innings of the second game, Pakistan were up against a mountain to try and save the series. Additionally, at 85/3, they were in a bit of a fix until Misbah walked in at No.5. He put on a 207-run stand for the sixth wicket with Kamran Akmal (119) and a 91-run stand for the seventh wicket with Mohammad Sami to save Pakistan from following on. His unbeaten knock helped them post 456 in the first innings – a score that ensured the match resulted in a draw.

102 v England, Dubai, 2015: Another Pakistan win, thanks to a 350-plus first-innings total steered by Misbah's lone century. Having elected to bat first, it was imperative for the hosts to put up a good total. While Shan Masood and Younis Khan both scored fifties, Pakistan were losing wickets at regular intervals. But captain Misbah stabilised them with a 93-run fourth-wicket stand with Younis (56) and 104-run fifth-wicket stand with Asad Shafiq (83), taking them to 378. A remarkable bowling effort from Wahab Riaz and Misbah's 87-run knock in the second innings sealed a 178-run victory for the hosts.

ODIs

83* v Sri Lanka, Colombo, Cricket World Cup 2011: Pakistan had a good campaign in the 2011 Cricket World Cup, making it to the semi-final of the tournament. It was a memorable World Cup for them, with captain Misbah-ul-Haq doing the bulk of scoring with crucial knocks. He was their highest run-getter in the tournament with 248 runs in six innings at an average of 49.60. His best came against Sri Lanka in a Group A fixture in Colombo where he slammed a 91-ball 83. After a top-order failure, he combined with his favourite batting partner, Younis (72), to share a 108-run stand for the fourth wicket. It helped Pakistan to a competitive 277/7. It was also Misbah's third-highest score in ODIs.

96* v West Indies, Champions Trophy, 2013: While Misbah produced quite a few hundreds in Tests, he could not reach the triple-figure mark in the 50-over format. The closest he came to the milestone was a scintillating 96 against West Indies at The Oval. In a disappointing batting performance, Pakistan were bowled out for just 170 in the group B fixture. Misbah was one of Pakistan's only two batters who reached double figures in the game. The other being Nasir Jamshed, who scored a 50 at the top. If not for Misbah, Pakistan would have succumbed for a far bigger loss. His unbeaten knock consisted of five fours and three sixes.