New Balfur Declaration Made
24th of Safar 1425 AH/ April 14th, 2004 AD: In a joint press conference of George W. Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, U.S. president made the "New Balfour Declaration". In both Bush’s speech and subsequent letter, he invalidated the right of Palestinian refugees to return to homes from which they were chased or fled during the establishment of the Zionist entity in 1948. Furthermore, the U.S. president gave his blessing for continued Israeli retention of some West Bank lands. “In light of new realities on the ground,” Bush stated, “including already existing major Israeli population centers, it is unrealistic to expect that the outcome of final status negotiations will be a full and complete return to the armistice lines of 1949.” Using this euphemism for Israeli settlements in Palestinian lands occupied in 1967, Bush has abandoned the position of every U.S. administration since Richard Nixon—and international law—with breathtaking alacrity.
Death of Saad Zaghlul
24th of Safar 1346 AH/ August 23rd, 1927 AD: Saad zaghlul, the Egyptian nationalist leader and the leader of 1919 Revolution, died.
Last emperor of China abdicates
24th of Safar 1330 AH/ February 12th, 1912 AD: Hsian-T'ung, the last emperor of China, is forced to abdicate following Sun Yat-sen's republican revolution. A provisional government was established in his place, ending 267 years of Manchu rule in China and 2,000 years of imperial rule. The former emperor, only six years old, was allowed to keep up his residence in Beijing's Forbidden City, and he took the name of Henry Pu Yi.
Black Sea talks plan defeat of Germany
24th of Safar 1364 AH/ February 7th, 1945 AD: Plans were being drawn up by London, Washington and Moscow for the final phase of the war against Germany. Leaders of the three countries, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, US President Franklin D Roosevelt and Marshal Joseph Stalin, had been meeting at a secret location in the Black Sea area.
Wave of arrest against leftists in Morocco
25th of Safar 1383 AH/ July 17th, 1963 AD: During the first major wave of repression against leftist militants in Morocco, many members of the National Union of Popular Forces were arrested for their alleged participation in a plot against the monarchy.
Death of Sayf Al-Dawlah Al-Hamadani
25th of Safar 356 AH/ February 10th, 966 AD: Sayf Al-Dawlah Al-Hamadani died. He was the ruler of northern Syria who was the founder and the most prominent prince of the Arab Hamdanid dynasty of Aleppo. He was famous for his patronage of scholars and poets and for his military struggles against the Greeks.
Andalusians Defeat Normands
25th of Safar 230 AH/ November 11th, 844 AD: Andalusians led by Muhammad bin Rustum crushingly defeated the Normand navy who made an attempt to invade Andalusia coasts in a battle near Seville.
Sadat in US for Mid East talks
25th of Safar, 1398 AH/ February 3rd, 1978 AD: Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat has arrived in Washington DC to discuss the Middle East peace process with US President Jimmy Carter.
Sahrawi Arab Republic Announced
26th of Safar, 1396 AH/ February 27th, 1976 AD: The creation of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic was announced in Bir Lehlou in Western Sahara on February 27, 1976, as the Polisario declared the need for a new entity to fill what they considered a political void left by the departing Spanish colonizers.
Al-Nuqrashi Assassinated
26th of Safar, 1368 AH/ December 28th, 1948 AD: Mahmud Fahmi Al-Nuqrashi, Egypt's prime minister, was assassinated.
Slavery Abolished in China
26th of Safar, 1328 AH/ March 10th, 1910 AD: The Imperial government formally abolished slavery in China, and the law became effective on Jan. 31, 1910, when all adult slaves were converted into hired laborers and the young were freed upon reaching age 25.
Birth of Salvador Dali
26th of Safar, 1322 AH/ May 11th, 1904 AD: Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dali, a prominent Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres, was born. Dali was a skilled draftsman, best known for the striking and bizarre images in his surrealist work. His best-known work, The Persistence of Memory, was completed in 1931.
Al-Rantissi Assassinated
27th of Safar, 1425 AH/ April 17th, 2004 AD: Dr. Abdel Aziz Al-Rantissi was assassinated by the Israeli Army after they fired hellfire missiles from an Apache helicopter at his car. Two others, one a bodyguard named Akram Nassar and the other Rantissi's 27-year-old son Mohammed, were also killed in the attack. Rantissi the co-founder of the militant Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas with Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. Rantissi was Hamas's political leader and spokesman in the Gaza Strip following the Israeli assassination of Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmad Yassin in March 2003.
Morocco and Polisario Ceasefire
27th of Safar, 1412 AH/ September 6th, 1991 AD: A cease-fire between the Polisario and Morocco, monitored by MINURSO (UN), has been in effect since September 6, 1991, on the promise of a referendum on independence the following year. However, the referendum stalled over disagreements on voter rights.
Six-Day War Breaks Out
27th of Safar, 1387 AH/ June 5th, 1967 AD: The Six-Day War of June 5-10, 1967 broke out. The war was fought between the Zionist entity and the neighboring states of Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. The Arab states of Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria also contributed troops and arms. At the war's end, the Zionist entity (so-called Israel) had gained control of the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights. The results of the war affect the geopolitics of the region to this day.
Yalta Conference Held
27th of Safar, 1364 AH/ February 11th, 1945 AD: The Yalta Conference was held in the Crimea, which brought together the Big Three Allied leaders. During this conference, Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt discussed Europe's postwar reorganization. The main purpose of Yalta was the re-establishment of the nations conquered and destroyed by Germany.
Deportation Day
27th of Safar, 1363 AH/ February 23rd, 1944 AD: Seven (overwhelmingly Turkic or non-Slavic) nationalities of the Crimea and the northern Caucasus were deported by the Soviet Union to central Asia: the Crimean Tatars, Kalmyks, Chechens, Ingush, Balkars, Karachays, and Meskhetian Turks.
Death of Al-Muqtafi
30th of Safar, 555 AH/ March 16th, 1160 AD: Death of Al-Muqtafi Li-Amril-Lah. He was the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad from 1136 to 1160. The continued disunion and contests between Seljuk Turks afforded al-Muqtafi opportunity of not only maintaining his authority in Baghdad, but also extending it throughout Iraq. Al-Muqtafi is praised by early Muslim historians as virtuous, able, and brave. During his Caliphate of twenty-five years, he conducted many minor expeditions against enemies in the vicinity, but none deserving any special notice.
US hostage freed in Beirut
30th of Safar, 1407 AH/ November 2nd, 1986 AD: An American held hostage in Beirut by Muslim fundamentalists has been released. David Jacobsen was set free in the west of the Lebanese capital after 17 months of captivity at the hands of Islamic Jihad.
Volcano kills thousands in Colombia
30th of Safar, 1407 AH/ November 13th, 1986 AD: About 20,000 people are feared dead after a volcanic eruption in northern Colombia. Four towns in the Andes region are reported to have been buried when ash spewed out of the volcano, Nevado del Ruiz, causing a mudslide.
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