When Capitalism and Indigenous Rights Collide in Africa

A legal dispute involving retail giant Amazon and Indigenous South Africans has highlighted a global dilemma: Are sacred sites more important than job creation? Indigenous groups have been fighting back, writes Silja Fröhlich for Deutsche Welle.

Indigenous Khoi and San people went to court to block the construction of the planned African headquarters for online retail giant Amazon. Opponents say the project will ruin a historically significant riverside site in Cape Town and harm the environment. The development was under construction on sacred land, the spiritual home to the Khoi and San ethnic groups. 

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has been seeking to woo foreign investment to create job opportunities. However, Genevieve Rose, head of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) has said that it "should not happen at the expense of Indigenous peoples." The only thing Indigenous peoples would ask for, Rose said, is for their rights to the land where the development is taking place to be recognized and that they are given proper consideration.

Similar scenarios have happened elsewhere in Africa. For example, in the 1970s, the Kenyan government evicted hundreds of Endorois families from their land to create a wildlife sanctuary for tourists.

In a historic ruling in 2021, the Kenyan Environment and Land Court in Meru declared the title deeds to the land on which the LTWP stands "irregular and unlawful." Indigenous people had complained that the wind energy project did not obtain consent, did not pay adequate compensation and violated applicable land laws.

Batwa land has also been converted into national parks and forest reserves against their will in Burundi and Uganda. And in Ethiopia, pastoralist peoples were forced off their land so foreign and national companies could lease it. 

Boko Haram Not About Religion Or Ethnicity - Nigeria President

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President Muhammadu Buhari has said that the Boko Haram insurgency has neither religious nor ethnic underpinning, and with adequate education, the majority of Nigerians now know the truth. 

The president was speaking at State House in Abuja, as he hosted the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karin Khan.

Buhari also warned of tougher security measures in restive parts of the country, with a review of operations and strategy. He assured Nigerians that the efforts that resulted in relative peace in the south-south and rescuing of the north-east from the hold of terrorists, will be ramped up.

The ICC's Khan said extremism was like cancer, which spreads and can also recede, noting that what Boko Haram does in collaboration with the Islamic State of West African Province, "is a perversion of religion." Khan urged Nigeria, in concert with other Sahel/Lake Chad basin countries, to get the UN Security Council to refer the atrocities committed by the terrorist groups operating in the region to the ICC for investigation and trial.

Buhari took office in 2015 after making several promises, one of which was to tackle insecurity. Since then, the security situation in the north-east has worsened due to the activities of Boko Haram and has spread to all parts of the country. There has also been an increase in kidnapping incidents across the country, daily.

Nigeria's Pristine Freshwater Ecosystems Need Protection Before They Are Lost

Prosper/Wikimedia
Arinta Waterfall in Ekiti State.

ANALYSIS

By Emmanuel O. Akindele
21 APRIL 2022
The Conversation Africa (Johannesburg)

As human populations grow, pure freshwater systems are becoming rare around the world. Urbanisation and infrastructure development have had an impact on the natural environment in African countries, as elsewhere. Many species have become extinct.

In Nigeria, various environmental pressures have jeopardised freshwater biodiversity in recent years. Undisturbed freshwater systems have become scarce, as human activity has destroyed many rivers, lakes and streams.

Cutting down trees, using water for domestic and industrial purposes, farming on river banks, dumping garbage and washing are some of the activities that contribute to reducing freshwater biodiversity.

Studies have found that the animals in Nigeria's freshwater ecosystems are mostly species that indicate low or moderate water quality. In the waters studied, there are fewer species that indicate excellent water quality. Larvae of non-biting midges, soldier flies and hover flies are examples of species that indicate poor water quality. But biological indicators of excellent water quality, such as mayflies, stoneflies and caddisflies, are frequently underrepresented.

My research group recently conducted an ecological study of the freshwater systems of three waterfalls in Nigeria's remote regions. They are all far from human settlement and are situated in Nigeria's different vegetation and geographical zones. Our findings revealed that the streams had exceptional biological water quality, which is unusual in Nigeria.

It's important to protect these places because pristine freshwater ecosystems are becoming rarer globally.

Freshwater systems in Nigeria

Three insect orders are frequently employed as indicators of high-quality freshwater habitats.

Ephemeroptera (commonly known as mayflies), Plecoptera (stoneflies), and Trichoptera (caddisflies) make up the indicator. In most cases globally, pristine freshwater systems have no fewer than 10 species of the three insect groups. The three insect groups are used as the benchmark for identifying top-quality sites. Such sites should support a wide range of species of the three insect orders. The higher the indicator value, the richer a freshwater system is in terms of biological diversity.

At Arinta Waterfalls in Ekiti State, southwest Nigeria, we discovered 19 species indicating excellent water quality. At Ekor Waterfalls in Cross River State, southern Nigeria we found 13. We discovered 29 indicator species at Oowu Waterfalls in Kwara State, north-central Nigeria. These records exceeded the benchmark for freshwater systems with excellent ecological integrity. In Nigeria it's rare to exceed this benchmark.

Our findings also revealed that the three sites had very high conservation value. An index value of not less than 20 is the standard. At all three locations, the index was greater than 20. The conservation index has been applied in Britain and Ireland for identifying freshwater systems of conservation importance. Its application has been recommended for international use. This study is the first application of the index in tropical Africa.

Freshwater environments with high conservation value have great promise for both terrestrial and freshwater biological diversity. They also bode well for human survival. Many insects require clean water to survive as larvae before maturing into adults and moving to forested areas near water. They become part of the food chain in these forests, passing their chemical energy to other animals. The larval insects are also essential food for fishes.

When present in significant numbers, the indicator group is a clear signal of natural freshwater with preserved riparian forests - little altered by human activity. Such freshwater systems imply a high level of naturalness and make an excellent ecotourism destination.

Potential for ecotourism

Apart from their biodiversity value, the three locations we studied have the potential to become ecotourism destinations in Nigeria. At present, ecotourists under-appreciate the sites, and ecologists under-report them. Only the Arinta Waterfalls site is under the close supervision of Ekiti State Tourism Board. The Abia village community in Cross River State is responsible for managing the Ekor Waterfalls site. Though the Kwara State Government recognises the Oowu Waterfalls as an ecotourism site, poor management and a poor road network leading to the site indicate that it is neglected.

Among the three, Oowu Waterfalls is remarkable for being the steepest and one of the highest waterfalls in West Africa.

The absence of well-organised management at the locations foreshadows a serious threat to these exceptional freshwater systems. There are already symptoms of uncontrolled human activity such as deforestation and tourist garbage dumping, albeit on a small scale.

Concerned governments should devise ways to protect and conserve these excellent streams. The goal is to identify freshwater habitats of high ecological integrity for conservation before they are spoilt by human activities. Protecting biodiversity will also meet other human needs like tourism, agriculture and mining.

The authorities need plant and animal ecologists to take an inventory of the sites' terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity. This baseline data is critical to draw up conservation plans, monitor naturalness and protect sites during future infrastructure developments.

Emmanuel O. Akindele, Senior Lecturer, Obafemi Awolowo University

This article is republished from The Conversation Africa under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Congo-Kinshasa: President's Dodgy Mining Deal With Mining Magnate Likely to Be a Costly Miscalculation

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22 APRIL 2022

Daily Maverick (Johannesburg)

ANALYSISBy Peter Fabricius

Questions mount over president Félix Tshisekedi withholding details of the deal to recover assets from the controversial mining magnate.

Many clues about what the enigmatic president Félix Tshisekedi is really about seem hidden in the secret deal his government signed on 24 February with notorious Israeli mining magnate Dan Gertler.

Gertler was former Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) president Joseph Kabila's closest business crony. The memorandum of understanding between Tshisekedi and Gertler would allow the DRC to "recover the disputed mining and oil assets" of Gertler's company Ventura, worth more than $2-billion, the DRC said.

"This is a historic first for the country, which is thus reclaiming assets whose sale had been called into question. The Congolese State will therefore revalue these assets for the exclusive benefit of the population," the DRC Presidency said in Twitter posts.

But the failure to publish the details of the deal so far has raised many questions about its merits. The DRC anti-corruption watchdog Le Congo n'est pas à vendre (CNPAV) (Congo is not for sale) is one of many civil society voices demanding that the full agreement be made public. This would allay fears that Tshisekedi hasn't simply launched "a new cycle...

Read the full story on Daily Maverick.

Africa: Austerity Is Not the Answer to Africa's Colliding Challenges

Columbus Mavhunga / VOA

A farmer in Harare about to start tilling his land in preparation for the rainy season, November 8, 2021.

22 APRIL 2022

African Arguments

ANALYSISBy Anthony Kamande

Countries are cutting billions in spending at a time when they should be investing massively in public services and decent jobs.

In a continent where 1.1 billion people live under $5.50 a day, a slew of connected, damaging events - climate change, ballooning external debt, a sharp spike in food and commodity prices - are making things worse, accelerating inequality and vulnerability. At a time when governments should be tackling this extraordinary combination of crises, a new report launched on 19 April by Oxfam and Development Finance International (DFI) tells a story of inaction. The few governments who are doing a little better at fighting poverty and inequality are still grossly under-performing in comparison with the global top performers.

The new report, Africa's extreme inequality crisis: building back fairer after COVID-19, is a continental briefing that draws on insights from the Commitment to Reducing Inequality (CRI) Index developed by Oxfam and Development Finance International (DFI). The index scores and ranks 158 global governments on three areas - public services, tax and labour rights - that are pivotal to reducing inequality. It sets out a comprehensive plan for African governments, the African Union and the international community, including the EU, to significantly reduce inequality, eradicate poverty, accelerate growth, and reduce insecurity throughout Africa.

The economic impact of the pandemic

While Africa has largely avoided severe Covid-19 deaths and infections recorded in other parts of the world, it has not avoided economic costs. African governments - like others around the world - found themselves in a tight fiscal spot in responding to the pandemic as revenue dwindled while pandemic related expenditure ballooned.

The pandemic pushed close to 40 million people in Africa into extreme poverty as millions lost jobs and income reduced. Weak social safety nets in most countries worsened the situation. Inequality, which was already at an extreme level pre-pandemic, has increased, too. The richest 1% of the African population now owns 33% of the African wealth, while just six richest African billionaires own more wealth than the bottom 50%, some 650 million people. Gender, racial and spatial inequality persist.

Overall, low-income countries in the continent spent 3.1% of GDP on COVID-19 related fiscal measures while developing countries spent 5.3%, largely on increased health spending and social safety nets. Most of this spending has been clawed back by African countries.

Although the IMF and the World Bank stepped up financial support to the continent, this has been inadequate compared with the magnitude of the pandemic. (The Bank committed $39bn while the Fund has provided close to $38bn through loans, $710 million through debt cancellation and $33bn worth of Special Drawing Rights.)

The pandemic vs. low health care investment

The impact of the pandemic and multiple crises has been made much worse by the fact that most health care systems across the continent are poorly funded. Spending on essential services like health and social protection has historically been dismal (see table below), with less than a half of the population having primary healthcare coverage. Only a third of the elderly people have access to old age pension. Tax collection is wanting, averaging 29% of what could be collected in each country. Before the pandemic, about 67% of workers were in precarious employment, meaning that they were not enjoying the existing labour rights.

Source: Commitment to Reducing Inequality 2020. 

The burden of debt and looming austerity

Such inadequate support amid a fiscal squeeze from the pandemic has exacerbated the debt situation in the continent. Spending on essential public services has been hit as governments prioritise debt repayment. Debt servicing for African nations is now an extraordinary six times spending in healthcare, and accounts for 51% of all tax revenue. And as local currencies depreciate against major currencies because of higher inflation rates and hiking of interest rates by central banks in wealthier countries, debt servicing is becoming even costlier.

To reduce the fiscal deficit and address the debt burden, African governments are introducing austerity measures, some with the encouragement of the IMF. Our estimate shows that 43 Africa countries will cut expenditure by $183bn cumulatively for the next five years to 2026. During the first year of the pandemic, the Fund encouraged 33 African countries to pursue austerity policies. We see the impact of austerity in our everyday lives across the continent, for example in Kenya: cooking gas prices have doubled after the IMF agreed on $2.3bn loan in 2021, which has led to taxes on cooking gas.

Food insecurity

Food insecurity is on the rise due to the worst droughts in 40 years triggered by climate change. On top of this, the war inUkraine has disrupted food supply chains and led to a spike in commodity and food prices, worsening the situation. In East and West Africa, 48 million people are experiencing a severe hunger crisis, with 18 million more on the verge of extreme hunger in the next few months. In Kenya, 2.8 million people are facing starvation. Across the world, food prices could also push about 40 million more people into extreme poverty. Most of them can be expected to come from Africa, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa where 40% of income is spent on food.

So what can be done? Start by building resilience and vaccinations

So what can governments and the international community do? Well, an urgent priority must be to build resilience and strong societies that can withstand future shocks. That means overturning the planned austerity investing in quality, affordable and accessible universal health, education, and social protection, and scaling up investment in small-scale agriculture, while raising domestic revenue through progressive taxation.

Another top priority is vaccine inequality. There is an urgent need to fight the pandemic by vaccinating 70% of the region's population by June 2022. This would prevent another collapse of the economies as a result of lockdowns and reduced mobility and crumbling of the healthcare system if a more virulent virus like omicron were to emerge.

To enhance comprehensive continental effort to fight inequality, the African Union should develop a joint continental action plan to set clear targets and accelerate measures to reduce inequality and poverty. The recent AU protocol to the African Charter on Human and People's Rights on the Rights of Citizens to Social Protection and Social Security agreed to at the last AU summit is a good starting point and will require member states ratifying and implementing it at national level.

The international community also has a crucial role. First, they should help address the debt crisis in the region, including through debt cancellation and restructuring and increased aid to the continent to build back better. Second, they should mandate the IMF and World Bank to ensure that all AU country strategies, programmes and policy advice focus on reducing inequality, and contain specific measures to achieve this.

Such debt cancellation can help African nations reject the policies of austerity that can only increase the misery, poverty and hunger of millions. It's time to reverse course and instead invest massively for an inclusive recovery and a fairer future for people across the continent.

Anthony Kamande is the inequality research coordinator at Oxfam International.

Read the original of this report, including embedded links and illustrations, on the African Arguments site.

 

Stoney Nakoda Nation says traditional knowledge key to success for Banff bison

REINTRODUCING BANFF BISON

The Canadian Press - Apr 24, 2022 /  | Story: 366896

Photo: The Canadian Press

Bison are seen in Banff National Park in Alberta 

An Indigenous-led report says relying on traditional knowledge could help to ensure the success of bison that have been reintroduced in Banff National Park.

In 2017, Parks Canada released 16 bison in the northeast section of the park in Alberta as part of a five-year pilot project. The herd has since grown to more than 60 animals roaming over 1,200 square kilometres of the park's backcountry.

Banff biologists are monitoring how the reintroduction has affected the environment, but the nearby Stoney Nakoda Nation decided it was also important to do a cultural assessment.

"We are dealing with a culturally important species within the Stoney traditional lands and that's a big piece that's missing from the reporting that was happening," Bill Snow of the Stoney Tribal Administration said in an interview Friday.

The report was released earlier this month. It was funded by the Canadian Mountain Network, a non-profit that supports research on the resilience and health of Canada's mountain people and places.

Snow, who's the lead investigator, said a team from the Stoney Nakoda Nation worked with elders, knowledge keepers and youth to get a better understanding of bison habitat, behaviour, and practices from an Indigenous perspective.

"It was not only a learning process about bison, it was a learning process about ourselves as Indigenous people returning and going back to the traditional lands," he said. "Being able to travel and to experience some of these areas has been really important ... for our own cultural well-being."

Snow said it has helped the Stoney Nakoda reconnect to their traditional lands, migration routes, camping sites, and hunting and gathering areas within Mînî Rhpa Mâkoche, now known as Banff National Park.

The report, which has been shared with park officials, includes 11 recommendations to ensure the continued success of the reintroduction and for co-operative management of the bison herd.

The suggestions include continuing the program once the pilot project is finished, holding a ceremony with First Nations at the start of each new phase and allowing cultural monitoring fieldwork to continue. They also urge expansion of the reintroduction zone to include the rest of the park and allowing First Nations to harvest animals once the herd grows too large.

The project is to be reviewed this year.

Wild bison disappeared from Banff National Park before it was created in 1885. They were reintroduced to determine whether bison could be a long-term fixture in the park.

Parks Canada said in a statement that it recognizes the connection between Indigenous culture and bison.

"During the project, Indigenous Peoples have shared their traditional knowledge of plains bison and participated in stewardship, management and celebration opportunities," says the statement. "Parks Canada has also collaborated with Indigenous communities and organizations in various on-the-ground conservation activities."

The statement said Parks Canada supported the Stoney Nakoda study and will consider it in the pilot project's final report.

"Results from all engagement have and will inform future decisions regarding the feasibility of managing a wild bison herd in Banff National Park over the long term."

The Stoney Nakoda report noted that projects such as the bison reintroduction are an important part of truth and reconciliation. It suggested traditional ecological knowledge can be used alongside western science for a more holistic approach to park management.

"At the end of the day, we are not just writing a report to write a report," said Snow. "We want to change how bison management is done."

 

Housing crisis to persist in Kelowna, says city report

HOUSING CRISIS WILL PERSIST

Wayne Moore - Apr 24, 2022 /  | Story: 366806

Photo: Colin Dacre

"The strong demand for housing in Kelowna is expected to continue into the coming year."

That's one of the conclusions reached in the city's 2021 housing report.

"Despite ongoing efforts to support housing supply the growth, and associated housing demand, that Kelowna is experiencing is beyond what we have seen in the past years."

The yearly report reiterates what has been suggested for some time - Kelowna remains a highly desirable place to live with a strong demand for housing.

"This demand was reflected in home price and rental rate increases in 2021."

According to the report, the median price increased from 10.1 per cent for an apartment to 13.6 per cent for a townhouse and 17.6 per cent for a single detached home in 2021.

At the same time, the rental vacancy rate fell dramatically from 2.1 per cent to 0.6 per cent at the same time rents increased.

And wages have not risen at the same rate.

The report found a need for all types of housing, including additional supportive housing for the city's homeless population and those suffering from complex needs, as well as purpose-built rental units.

At the present time, 440 supportive and 3,300 rental units are moving through the development process.

Despite actions presently being taken, the report concludes the need for more housing that is attainable for a larger proportion of residents.

"City staff will continue to bring forward tools and initiatives to give council new options to meet community housing needs."

 

B.C. cannabis industry gathers in Kelowna,  pushes for changes

POT INDUSTRY SEEKS CHANGES

Brayden Ursel - Apr 24, 2022 / 4 | Story: 366874

Photo: BC Cannabis Summit

The inaugural B.C. Cannabis Summit wrapped up its three-day event on Saturday with a roundtable discussion aimed at bettering the future of the cannabis industry for both the seller and the consumer.

The main topics discussed by industry professionals at the event included the taxing of cannabis, current policy issues, and how starting a "farmgate" could help boost the economy in a post-pandemic world.

“It’s essentially the same thing you would have at an orchard where a person can come pick up some apples, pick up some pears, pick up some peaches,” said Irwin Chahal, owner of South Okanagan Cannabis.

“So, if we’re a cannabis farm, consumers would be able to come see how the cannabis is grown, who grew the cannabis, and ask any questions they may have, and to be able to purchase cannabis directly from the grower.”

The secretary of the B.C. Craft Farms Co-op, David Hurford, believes a move like this would immediately rejuvenate the tourism industry while also tapping into a brand-new revenue stream that would help reboot the economy.

“We think it’s a no-brainer and our concern is that we are not moving fast enough; we are falling behind… B.C. has a major international brand for cannabis and we don’t want to lose that advantage. We can’t take it for granted, we have to work for it … this could create thousands of jobs very quickly,” said Hurford.

The Growers Association for Cannabis and different associations across Canada are hoping the government will take the time to listen to their "farmgate" proposal to see the true value in it, as they believe it can be used as one of Canada’s most powerful tools in terms of creating business.

“The Cannabis Act is what is really holding craft farmers back … the [government] didn’t consult the experts in terms of drafting it. We’ve proposed a number of improvements to that," Hurford said. "We are suggesting that it not be led by Health Canada.”

The Cannabis Act is up for review later this year, and cannabis industry experts are confident things will move forward in the right direction not only for buyers and consumers, but for the province as a whole.

Women less likely to recover from long COVID — UK study

More than two-thirds of people hospitalized with COVID-19 still suffer symptoms a year later, UK researchers have said. Women and obese people are most at risk of long COVID.



Long COVID patients were found to have 'substantially decreased health-related quality of life'

Negative health impacts from severe cases of COVID-19 continue to affect many people even a year after contracting the disease, making it urgent to develop treatments, a UK study released on Sunday has shown.

"Without effective treatments, long COVID could become a highly prevalent new long-term condition," said Christopher Brightling of the University of Leicester, who co-led the study, published in the Lancet Respiratory Medicine journal.
What did the study find?

The study, involving altogether more than 2,300 people, showed just 26% of those who had been hospitalized with COVID-19 reporting a full recovery after five months and only 28.9% after a full year.

Women were 33% less likely than men to make a full recovery, according to the study.

Those who required mechanical ventilation while in hospital and obese people were even more at risk.

The most common symptoms reported by the long COVID sufferers were breathlessness, fatigue, muscle pain, sleep problems, limb weakness and mental health impairment.

Brightling said there was "an urgent need for health-care services to support this large and rapidly increasing patient population." Even a year after leaving hospital, many people who are suffering from long COVID show serious symptoms, including "reduced exercise capacity and large decrements in health-related quality of life," the authors wrote.

Iraqi Christians celebrate first Easter 'Holy Fire'

AFP , Sunday 24 Apr 2022

With joyous ululations, thousands of Iraqis have celebrated for the first time the arrival of the "Holy Fire" brought from Christianity's holiest site in Jerusalem to mark Orthodox Easter


Iraqi Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter Saturday at the church of the ancient Mor Mattai Monastery in the village of Bashiqa, some 30km northeast of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, during the night of April 23, 2022. AFP

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With chanting and prayers, excited crowds gathered Saturday night to greet the flame's arrival at the Syriac Christian Orthodox Mar Matta monastery of Saint Matthew, about 28 kilometres (17 miles) from the war-ravaged city of Mosul in northern Iraq.

"It is a message of peace and love for all... a message of resurrection for this bruised country, so that it can regain its strength, its security and its peace," Bishop Timathos Moussa Shamani, of the Mar Matta monastery, told AFP.

The flame had been taken earlier Saturday from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem -- where Christian tradition says Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected..

According to believers, the fire descends from heaven on the eve of Easter, and is a symbol of Christ's Resurrection.

From Jerusalem it was carried in a special lantern to Jordan, before being flown to Iraq -- a method that is used every year to take the flame to other Orthodox communities, including Greece.

For the first time, the flame came directly to Iraq. To calls of "halleluia" and the clanging of cymbals, the lantern arrived carried by a bishop into the church at the monastery.

Iraqi Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter at the church of the ancient Mor Mattai Monastery in the village of Bashiqa SAFIN HAMED AFP

'Historic'

Celebrating crowds packed the courtyard and monastery church, where worshippers, monks and priests leaned forward to kiss the lantern and receive the blessing they believe the fire grants them.

The crowds then lit candles from the flickering flame, filling the church with light.

"It's a historic day," said Saad Youssef, a 60-year-old teacher.

The region is home to one of the world's oldest Christian communities, but believers were hit hard under the onslaught of the Islamic State group (IS), who forced hundreds of thousands of Christians to flee.

Nineveh province, surrounding Mosul, was left in ruins after three years of jihadist occupation which ended in 2017 when an Iraqi force backed by US-led coalition air strikes pushed them out.

Iraq's Christian population has shrunk to fewer than 400,000 from around 1.5 million before the US-led invasion of 2003 that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein.

But monasteries and churches are being slowly restored, and Pope Francis made a historic visit to the region last year.

"What I feel is the best emotion in the whole universe", said one of the faithful, a housewife in her fifties who gave her name as Ferial.

Iraq celebrates first Easter 'Holy Fire'

By Al Mayadeen Net
Source: Agencies

Christian Iraqis have widely shared the hashtag "the dream has come true" on social media.

Iraqi Orthodox Christians share the flame of the "Holy Fire" brought from Al-Quds (AFP)

For the first time, thousands of Iraqis celebrated the arrival of the "Holy Fire" brought from Christianity's holiest site in Al-Quds to mark Orthodox Easter.

Worshippers gathered Saturday night to greet the arrival of the flame at the Syriac Christian Orthodox Mar Matta monastery of Saint Matthew, about 28 kilometers from the city of Mosul in northern Iraq.

On his account, Bishop Timathos Moussa Shamani, of the Mar Matta monastery, said, as quoted by AFP, "It is a message of peace and love for all... a message of resurrection for this bruised country so that it can regain its strength, its security, and its peace."

The flame was carried in a special lantern from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in occupied Al-Quds, where Christian tradition holds that Jesus was crucified, buried, and resurrected.

"For the first time in the history of Iraq we managed, through coordination with the Iraqi central government, to transport the holy fire (to Iraq) through Amman," said Boulos Matta Ephrem, a priest at the Mart Shmoni Syriac Orthodox church in Bashiqa.

According to believers, the fire descends from heaven on the eve of Easter and is a symbol of Christ's Resurrection.

Christian Iraqis widely shared the hashtag "the dream has come true" on social media.
From Palestine to Iraq

It is worth mentioning that the Israeli occupation forces prevented Christian pilgrims from freely reaching the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Saturday, adding that one of the priests was brutally attacked by the IOF while on his way to the church.

The occupation forces were heavily deployed in occupied Al-Quds and imposed restrictions on Christians heading to the church.

Earlier, the occupation forces closed the New Gate leading to the Old City of occupied Al-Quds, through which the pilgrims enter to celebrate the Holy Saturday.

Despite strict Israeli restrictions, thousands celebrated the outpouring of the Holy Fire inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

The Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Sebastia in Al-Quds, Archbishop Atallah Hanna, told Al Mayadeen that the occupation forces entered the Church of the Holy Sepulchre with their weapons.

The Archbishop revealed that the occupation turned the Old City into a military barracks, explaining that the occupation forces are blatantly encroaching on the sanctity of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in an unprecedented targeting of the Christian presence in the city.

Archbishop Hanna further pointed out that the occupation forces' decision to enter the Church with their weapons is a clear provocation of Christians and worshippers, who were attacked by the occupation in an unprecedented scene during the most important Christian holidays.

He addressed the world saying, "This is a cry to the Christian churches in the East and the whole world to give heeds to the Christian presence in occupied Al-Quds."