Foreign Minister Ahmed Naseem has announced he will file a defamation case against the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP), after it published a pamphlet alleging among other claims that he had secretly voted for the formation of the state of Israel.
“I was not even born then,” Naseem said today. “But the Maldivian public do not know this – many of them don’t know when the state of Israel was created.”
Naseem said people were now shouting at him in the street calling him a “Jew-lover” and making threatening telephone calls following publication of the pamphlet.
The Maldives co-sponsored a resolution to grant Palestine full membership to UNESCO, but the delegation returned before voting.
The resolution was adopted with 107 countries voting in favour, 14 voting against and 52 abstaining, signaling a significant symbolic victory for Palestine’s bid for statehood ahead of a similar vote at the UN General Assembly in New York.
However in the chapter of the contentious pamphlet headed “Helping the Jews instead of aiding the poor people of Palestine”, the DQP states that: “Nasheed’s current Foreign Minister ‘Kerafa’ Naseem is a person who voted on behalf of the Maldives at the UN to [recognise] Israel as an independent nation. Naseem’s action was contrary to both the order and view of the government at the time.”
The party further accused the government of efforts to “familiarise Maldivians with Jews and Israel, and show their virtue and induce love and empathy in Maldivian hearts. Nasheed’s government has brought in teams under different names such as doctors and agriculturists and begun the actual work of acquainting Maldivians with Jews.”
Police interrogated and briefly detained leaders of the DQP on January 12, after the President’s Office requested an investigation into “slanderous” statements alleging the government was working under the influence of “Jews” and “Christian priests” to weaken Islam in the Maldives and incite religious hatred.
DQP council members including former Justice Minister Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed and ‘Sandhaanu’ Ahmed Ibrahim Didi were summoned for questioning, while party leader and former Attorney General, Dr Hassan Saeed, accompanied the pair as their lead lawyer.
The Criminal Court’s decision not to extend the detention of the pair eventually led the government to accuse Chief Judge Abdulla Mohamed of corruption and political favouritism, and in the absence of activity from the judicial watchdog, order his detention on Girifushi until the judicial crisis was resolved. The move has sparked more than a week of opposition-led protests.
Naseem said today that the international community had not expressed concern about the contents of the DQP pamphlet – “I think they see it as totally ridiculous. No one has spoken to us about it, and I don’t think it’s relevant,” he said.
“The DQP doesn’t have even 2000 members in its party. The leaders are the same people who passed sentences against people with no trial or legal representation [under the former government],” Naseem alleged. With the detention of the chief judge, “Now, suddenly, they have discovered democracy.”
ICC
A group of lawyers have meanwhile forwarded the chief judge’s case to the International Ciminal Court, contesting the conditions of the judge’s arrest and his detention at Girifushi.
One of the lawyers, Maumoon Hameed, said the case was submitted “as the continued detention of Judge Mohamed is in clear violation of the International Convention on the Protection of all Persons against Enforced Disappearance.”
Naseem responded by welcoming the submission of a case alleging human rights violation to the ICC: “Our aim is for all Maldivians to have access to the highest court in the international criminal legal system so as to achieve remedy and redress for grave crimes against humanity,” Naseem said, although he said he suspected the lawyers had misconstrued the definition of “crimes against humanity” as defined in the Rome Statute.”
“It’s a good sign in a democracy when locals use the international legal system. This is a proud moment for the government,” Naseem said.
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If this is true that DQM said that Naseem voted to form Israel, then their stupidity should be shown to the whole Word. Not only that but he should also sue them. As he says he was not even born then.
Actually Naseem was brought back from the UN by Nasir,and there were extremely strong rumours at that time,that he voted with the Arabs and for Palestine while Maldives was officially a Non Aligned country.
Furthermore, this UNESCO fiasco has got nothing to do with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. If DQM wants to be taken seriously they better get some education regarding World Affairs. They do not even know how UNESCO is run and which Ministry of the Government looks after UNESCO. It is the Ministry of Education.
So if DQM has any sense of dignity they would resign and it is the height of absurdity to accuse someone of voting for Israel when he actually was supposed to have voted for the Palestinians.
Yes, that is taking it too far.
No one who despises jews, as they properly should be despised, should have to suffer the humiliation of being called a "jew lover".
two comments about this.
1. DQP is a bunch of idiots running around two idiots who happened to have been accidentally given PHDs by universities.
2. Kerafa Naseem is one of the biggest petty thieves this country ever saw. This man would even filch coins from a paupers bowl.
@ Dhivehi Hanguraama
Why are you obsessed with jews and Khomeinin?
The Maldives is NOT a military dictatorship. What we have is a corrupt judge who has released drug dealers, rapists, and child abusers. The man is so powerful and influential as a Judge who has been appointed for life that there is no other way to protect the people of Maldives! This is the only way forward - there cannot be the rule of law when the judicial system has corruption at its bone!
Dear all,
All of you that have read my comments or articles knows how much I love Maldives: I think there is no possible question on that and on my intentions every time I write. It is, once more, my love for your country that makes react now: the level of stupidity and ignorance existing among some citizens in The Maldives is making people laugh around the world. Regardless if a person loves or hates jews, how is it possible to make such comments? Jews read your papers as well. Can´t people understand how much this sort of declarations and behaviour downgrades the level of acceptance of Maldives in international circles? Do you think you are being taken seriously by other Muslin countries? Do you know the Image you have in Qatar, Oman and Jordan?
I feel sorry for this kind of ignorant and perverse people …sorry to say this, but Maldives is today a circus … this is what the International community thinks about your country in view of what is happening. You have to act quick on that if you want to stop the bad image you already have today or no one will ever take you serious. To tell you the truth, that makes me very sad, indeed very sad.
The Maldives is now bordering on a military dictatorship dear Loiii and here are the reasons.
- The government refuses to comply with certain court orders hence there is no judicial review to keep the executive in check (meaning our country is not a democracy at the moment).
- The government has ordered the military to kidnap a Maldivian citizen (corrupt judge or not, accused of a crime or not, he is still a Maldivian citizen) and detain him indefinitely. (meaning the government is using the military in civil matters and has detained a man in violation of the Chapter on fundamental freedoms in our Constitution).
- Fundamental freedoms denied for one person is human rights denied for all. Let us leave our personal views about Abdulla Mohamed behind. What if the government decides one day that you are a threat to their rule? What remains to protect you then? The Constitution? The judiciary? None. All we have left is the goodwill of the government.
- The goodwill of the government can only be obtained by behaving in a manner approved by the government. Hence, the government is actively promoting a climate of obeisance and submissiveness. Therefore we are a dictatorship.
It is not a matter of personal preference. Some things can be empirically measured and assessed like the system of governance in a country. Whether you personally admire the President and support his rule is another matter altogether. Yet you cannot claim that this is a democracy.
We are at a crucial cross roads. Nasheed has to win this battle if a fair legal system is to prevail. Bringing the international opinion before it is too late! SAVE THE MALDIVES.
This is madness! If this man indeed helped in the formation of the most evil country in the world, then he should be properly punished! Take no Jew as a friend, Muslim Maldivian brothers and non-fornicating sisters, as they are always planning your destruction! They will never wish good things to happen to you, and they wish the opposite! Allah SWT has described how evil they are in the Holy Quran, so listen to what your Creator has to say about the evil Jews!
Mr.Antonio, the Jew from Al-Andalus....I have told you this once before. Please go comment on some Jewish website instead of commenting on one run in a muslim country. We all know what your plan is, and that is to convert Muslim readers into Christians! May Allah SWT's wrath be upon you and your family!
Hey true the idiocy among the Maldivians would never cease to amaze the sane and competent few here. haha loling like a made man.
Whats wrong with having normal relations with Israel? Nothing.
As a matter of fact how many of you really know anything about Israel and the people of Israel except what you read or hear in the media? Very few indeed! Most of the Israeli people are just like the people of the rest of the world busy trying to earn a living to pay the bills and raise their children.
I would support having normal diplomatic and cultural relations with Israel just like the way we have with the rest of the civilized world.
We should support the Palestinians to gain their freedom and to live side by side Israel in peace. To do this we don't need to get over melodramatic about the Palestinians/Israeli conflict.
What have these 'Muslim brother' Arab nations done for us that Western nations haven't done? Zero!
So I really don't understand our obsession with the Arabs and Palestinians.
We are a proud Muslim nation and we must safe guard our Religion and our values but that doesn't require us to be more 'anti-Israel' than even the Arab nations to demonstrate our Muslimness!!
If you ever take Hassan Saeed seriously, and supported him, you will be dissapointed.
Dear sia, please help me because i do not understand something that you said. You refer to muslim brothers and non fornicating sisters. I am very worried about the fornicating sisters and how to avoid them. Who are they fornicating with? Are they doing it with the muslim brothers or with non believers? How can you be sure what they are doing and with whom? Please help because I am sure that you have something important to say on this topic.
Ilyas I agree with you. It is quite ridiculous that Palestine themselves have fairly decent relations with Israel. They share security and intelligence too and Israel collect their tax for them too while The Maldives, who has no direct relationship on this occupation is in an uproar because of this occupation.
Sure we do support the Palestinian cause as had all Maldivian Governments and it was the Maldives who co sponsored the Palestinian bid for UNESCO.
It was the stupidity of the Ministry of Education that Maldives did not vote on the UNESCO election and the Foreign Ministry has got nothing to do with this.
Keraf Naseem is talking nonsense. The international community cetainly is concerned over the developments in the Maldives. I just wonder why the agitation and knee and fear among the the leaders of the current government to this pamphlet. It seems like Nasheed is running a dictatorship since the pamphlet was published.
@Ilyas Ahmed on Thu, 26th Jan 2012 12:37 AM
"What have these ‘Muslim brother’ Arab nations done for us that Western nations haven’t done? Zero!"
Well, well, talk about biting the hand that feeds you! Dear boy, can you name those things that the Western nations have done for us? I'd love to hear about them.
Our Muslim brothers and the Arab nations have done quite a lot for us. In terms of development money, grants, or just free money, you'll find that we've gained billions of dollars over the last 100 or so years.
There's some Arab money involved in almost all big infrastructure projects in this country. Besides those Arabs, Japan and India are the other two nations that have contributed heavily to the Maldives. Our gratitude to these nations is immeasurable.
As I said, I'd love to hear about the generous aid that you think we are getting from Western nations.
@Ilyas Ahmed on Thu, 26th Jan 2012 12:37 AM
"I would support having normal diplomatic and cultural relations with Israel just like the way we have with the rest of the civilized world."
You have the right to that view of course, but you're among a very tiny minority in this country. Israel cannot be seen in the same light as other "civilized" nations! Just as there are good, decent Iranians, there are good and decent Israelis too. Their respective governments are a different matter altogether.
I doubt that there's another member of the United Nations that have ignored or just plainly broken its resolutions as much as Israel has had, since its creation. Unlike others that continuously ignore UN resolutions, Israel is never the subject of outrage by the "international community"; one can even say that it gets rewarded for its behaviour.
Denying the genocide and ethnic cleansing that took place during the creation of Israel is about equal to denying the holocaust. Now, that genocide and ethnic cleansing have continued unabated over the last 6 decades!
Like I said, thankfully, you hold a minority view in this country. Have a good day.
It's indeed true that Maldives, especially its madcap politicians are fast becoming the butt of jokes in the international community.
Here, we have grown up men, who are fabricating ever more unlikely tales about each other in the name of "democracy". As was leaked in Wikileaks, the United States was observed to have been shaking their head at the tall tales that were spinning just a few years ago.
We are back at it again, with a vengence, with even taller tales. Some are calling for the intervention of the International Criminal Court. Some are talking about a military dictatorship.
I wonder whether any of these people have ever actually cared to find out what the ICC really does and the sort of cases it gets involved in! Similarly, I don't think they even know what the term "military dictatorship" means! Anyone who hears about the involvement of ICC in a case, or about military dictatorships will have shivers down their spine. Both of these represent human suffering in an unimaginable scale!
Contrast that with the poor Maldivian politicians, who never had it so good! That makes current events even more of a circus. They can write novels about how unjust our "democracy" is, and travel on tours to various diplomatic missions around the world to explain their plight. This is indeed, reality TV at its best.
@Antonio(Spain)
Before u comment about Maldives take a look at what Your europeans had done to the muslim world n General.
Ur nations is nation of Looters and killers whO are after the resources of the muslia nations.
The moment muslims trust u people the next thing what can be expected is Conspire against muslims.This is what we called shitting on the won plate.
Sorry it should read as "Shitting on the own plate"
Anyone who refers to the situation in Maldives a circus is describing how these clowns are running around. Most Maldivians who are brain washed by the Azhar baked Ghazees and Sheikhs know very little of the western world. All what they remember is Egyotian propaganda. Remember a guy named Maumoon, who took 22 years to graduate from Azhar?
@ Ahmed bin Addu bin Suvadheeb on Thu, 26th Jan 2012 4:53 AM
You failed to see the point. The Arab nations do not provide more assistance to us than the 'western' nations. Japan and India are major development partners of course.
Coming back to the point, take Egypt. The largest Muslim nation in the Middle East has normal diplomatic relations with Israel. So does Jordan and Turkey.
Many Arab nations have trade links. Daily flights from Amman to Tel Aviv.
While Muslim Afghanistan was occupied by the Soviet Union and the Afghan people were being killed, Maldives like other Islamic countries maintained diplomatic relations with the Soviets.
The US and UK have been engaged in wars in Islamic countries for the last 10 years since 9/11. We continue to enjoy close diplomatic and other relations with them.
As Manik (above), said even the Palestinian leadership continues to have trade and other relations with Israel even while they continue to disagree with the Israeli policies in the occupied territories.
What is more, there are many Arabs and Palestinians (Muslims and Christians) who are citizens of Israel. The Arabs living in Israel are more affluent and 'developed' than the Palestinians living in the Arab nations or the West Bank.
I am well aware that I would be amongst a handful of Maldivians who would even dare to suggest that we should establish full diplomatic and cultural relations for fear of angering the masses.
I say we should open an Embassy in Israel and in Palestine. Recognize Palestine as a sovereign nation too.
Let us welcome the Israeli airline El Al to fly directly from Tel Aviv to Male.
We will have nothing to loose and all to gain!
Ilyas, we do recognise Palestine as a sovereign state. I have major issues with Israel and the occupation but Maldivians are being absolutely ignorant if they think all Palestinians are Muslims. Sure there are the majority but there are lots of Christians too.
What is happening in Israel has got nothing to do with Islam but all to do with land grabbing by Israel. It is pure and simple POLITICAL.
That is also not a major issue as far as Maldives is concerned. What we are concerned is the dismantling of the fabrics of Maldivian society by these imbeciles who think we are Arabs. We are not Arabs and never would be.
We are Muslims and have been Muslims and we should fight with everything we have to combat these warped versions of Islam that is being imported by these bearded weirdos.
To me Anni or Gayoom or Yameen is not so important as they would be moderate compared to what these guys would bring if they managed to grab hold of power.
Gayoom and Yameen should stop pandering to these people because at any stage if they come to power, these Mullahs would turn on them like a pack of wolves.
@manik on Thu, 26th Jan 2012 5:08 PM
"What is happening in Israel has got nothing to do with Islam but all to do with land grabbing by Israel. It is pure and simple POLITICAL."
Oh dear! Guys, please, one word of advice. Before making these sorts of ridiculous declarations, at least have the decency to do some research and point to relevant literature or sources for your information.
The existence of Israel is based on religion, full stop! The claim is that the whole area was "given" to the Jews by God himself. One of the fundamental tenets of the Jewish faith is the existence of Israel.
Islam has one of its holiest sites on this very same land, claimed to have been given to the Jews. On top of that, the very same land happens to be the birthplace of the founder of the Christian faith.
So, to simply say this has nothing to do with Islam is missing the point. The correct statement is, this has everything to do with 3 religions!
Anyway, I don't want to labour the point, but you really ought to do justice yourself, by reading on these issues and being better informed!
@Manik
Can a beard kill a fly?NOOOOOOOOOO,therefore dont keep insulting.
Yes Maldivians are not Arabs but Muslims.However Maldivians is proudly standing up against injustice done to a fellow muslims in Palestine is the hallmark of a true believer.
Prophet Muhammed(PBUH) said,if you see a injustice done to a person try to stop it with your hand,if not atleast by your words,if not atleast hate it by your heart and its the lowest level of iman/Faith.Got It now?
bin addu and Asif. I know the history a lot better than you guys. It is pure politics. Do you know that a lot of Palestinians are Christians too?
Sure there are a bunch of Jews who may go for the Promised land myth but for the majority it is pure politics.
If you know the geography and the geology of the area then you may have a better understanding.
I of course support the Palestinian bid for freedom long before you guys were probably born so do not try to preach to me about this.
Asif, and don't be hypocrite. How many injustices to fellow Muslims have you protested against? What about the injustices done to fellow Muslims by fellow Muslims, in places like Iraq, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain to name a few.
Standing up for Palestinian rights is a noble cause but if you are standing up for only Muslim Palestinian rights I am sure the majority of the Palestinians would not want it as for them it is a political freedom they want from the brutal Israeli occupation and not religious freedom from Judaism.
Get it?
Manik, of course, not only do I know that there are Christian Palestinians, I have met plenty of them too! The Promised Land stuff is not a myth! It's very much the reality on the ground, especially so under the current Israeli government. It never was a myth and it never will be. Have you ever heard a speech by the Israeli Foreign Minister on this subject? If not, I'd advise you to do so.
At the end of the day, Israel's very existence lies at the heart of the Jewish faith. Afterall, its the Jewish State of Israel!
In answer to those who point out at the "affluent" Arab Israelis, let me remind you that they are very much 2nd class (or worse) citizens. There existence is merely tolerated. Israel would very much like to get rid of them. In fact, under one proposal for the "Peace Process", that's exactly what's being put forward. Throw out the Arabs altogether from Israel in the creation of two States. Israel wants to become a complete Jewish State.
I'll also remind that Arab Israelis are very very rarely given permission to build or extend anything on their own land. There are plenty of Israeli Arabs who can claim rights to the land of their forefathers; generations of them. But that land will never be theirs. If it has not already been appropriated in the name of God, it will be considered a "military zone". That just means it'll soon be turned into land of the Jewish State of Israel.
This is often seen in East Jerusalem. No Arab can build or extend there even though its their land!
Some of you may already know this, but it looks like most do not. You cannot compare a country like this to other "civilised" states of the world.
The Promised land is a myth to most Jews now. This is of course different to the former eastern european Jews like Liberman etc( who is the foreign Minister now)
The Jews of course claim the promised land but that does not include the whole of what the Palestinians are claiming for their state.
East Jerusalem would of course be the crucial point for both of them.
In reality Jews from the area, Jews from Europe and the eastern europeans are very different.
Most of them would gladly give some land up for peace in the region and this is the same for the majority.
It is the politicians who keep fanning the flames everywhere. This includes both the Jews and the Muslims too. This is the same in most countries too and look at France now as well.
I accept Israel's right to exist in the pre 1967 borders and just as the Palestinian state with the same boundaries of the 1967.
But this is not going to happen and everyone knows this.
The main issue in the Israel Palestinian conflict is the "real" Arabs, the Arabs from Saudi and the Gulf States are not that much interested in the formation of a Palestinian State. They have enough clout and influence with the Americans to make it happen. But they wont as they are only interested in maintaining their absolute power over their citizens.
But it is pointless for us to try and create an International incident out of this as no one else would bat an eye lid and in the end the losers would only be Maldives.
@ Ahmed bin Addu bin Suvadheeb on Thu, 26th Jan 2012 10:13 PM
Ever been to Israel?
Ever see the real life is Israel?
Ever seen the Arab homes and businesses in Israel?
True, there are extremist forces amongst the politicians in Israel and the current government is the most anti peace government.
But should that prevent Maldivians and Israeli people from interacting with each other?
Try to compare the total number of Palestinians who have been killed and injured under the Israelis against the total Muslims killed in the last 10 years of war waged by US,UK,France, Italy etc. Add the number of people whose homes were destroyed etc.
We don't seem to have any problem in cozying up to these nations even while full scale war is waged against 'Muslim Brothers'!
Maldivians fears of jews stem from age old prejudice grilled in to our psyche by our forefathers. It used to be the same with 'faranjees' till tourism opened the minds of the natives.
As a matter of fact, we even now have formal diplomatic relations with Israel although we do not have 'active' relations. So??
I agree that there may be certain elements within the Israeli populace that, were it not for their heresy, are highly admirable persons.
Indeed, the Haredi espouse positions pertaining to the chastity and proper station of women, that are not entirely dissimilar to my own.
But transgressors they remain, and garrotting their due reward!
Kerafa Naseem is the master mind, hired mercineries to murder former president including members of his cabinet reference quote from " My Logbook" by Koli Ali Maniku. Koli Ali Maniku live in Singapore and President Nasheed makes personal visits to Maniku every trip he passes thru Singapore.
Naseem did right by filing case against DQP who have mentioned some baseless things against the government. As a president of the country, Anni has mandate to change the "corrupt" system result of a 30-year long authoritarian rule. Some of our respected judges are not even have a A-level certificate. The cause of present crisis is a corrupt judge - a kpin of opposition's vested interest. Why he was protecting 3-4 opposition MPs. He even let off notorious drug smuggler. Even JSC did not initiate any action against this corrupt judge. We should be happy that Anni showed courage by arresting this corrupt judge.
i am a maldivian and i dont hate/ fear jews, or arabs or martians. however, i dondemn what the state of israel is doing to the palestinians, and i also condemn, the current maldivian government's actions of avoiding voting to recognise the Palestinians at UNESCO. its quite clear that this government has made some deals with various organisations/ states which are NOT in the interest of this country and definitely not in line with the senisibilities of majority of maldivians. Naseem is one of the most corrupt men in maldives and has no compassion or respect for maldivians