Hossam Shabat
“I ask you now: do not stop speaking about Gaza, do not let the world look away…”

This is Hossam’s team, and we are sharing his final message: “If you’re reading this, it means I have been killed–most likely targeted–by the Israeli occupation forces. When this all began, I was only 21 years old–a college student with dreams like anyone else. For the past 18 months, I have dedicated every moment of my life to my people. I documented the horrors in northern Gaza minute by minute, determined to show the world the truth they tried to bury. I slept on pavements, in schools, in tents–anywhere I could. Each day was a battle for survival. I endured hunger for months, yet I never left my people’s side. By God, I fulfilled my duty as a journalist. I risked everything to report the truth, and now, I am finally at rest–something I haven’t known in the past 18 months. I did all this because I believe in the Palestinian cause. I believe this land is ours, and it has been the highest honor of my life to die defending it and serving its people.  I ask you now: do not stop speaking about Gaza. Do not let the world look away. Keep fighting, keep telling our stories–until Palestine is free.”  – For the last time, Hossam Shabat, from northern Gaza.

Hossam Shabat’s Last Article, Sharif Abdel Kouddous, Mar 25 2025

Hossam Shabat is dead. I am beyond rage and despair as I write these words. The Israeli military bombed his car this morning as he was travelling in Beit Lahia. Videos fill my screen of his body lying on the street, carried to the hospital, grieved by his colleagues and loved ones. These are the kinds of tragic scenes Hossam himself would so often document for the world. He was an exemplary journalist: brave, tireless, and dedicated to telling the story of Palestinians in Gaza. Hossam was one of a handful of reporters who remained in northern Gaza through Israel’s genocidal war. His ability to cover one of the most brutal military campaigns in recent history was almost beyond comprehension. He bore witness to untold death and suffering on an almost daily basis for seventeen months. He was displaced over twenty times. He was often hungry. He buried many of his journalist colleagues. In November, he was wounded in an Israeli airstrike. I still can’t believe I am referring to him in the past tense. Israel obliterates the present.
Hossam’s Team

Honour Killings
On October 15th, 2022, representatives from over 20 civil society organizations from 10 states of India including National Network for Dalit and Human Rights (NCDHR), National Dalit Movement for Justice (NDMJ), Dalit Human Rights Defenders Network (DHRDNet), National Council for Women Leaders (NCWL), Dhanak for Humanity, People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Centre for Law and Policy Research (CLPR) among others agreed to jointly initiate a Network with the goal of preventing crimes committed in the name of honour.

The complex and dangerous nature of honour violence, especially in India, cannot be understated. With no law on the books and no definite way to determine cases, convictions in cases of honour killings remain woefully low.

The campaign, titled ‘Network To Combat Against Crimes Committed in the Name of Honour’ is a National network of national and grass-roots organizations/networks working with an anti-caste, anti-patriarchy, feminist and minority protection ethic.

The Network is aimed at bringing legislative, legal and social protections for persons engaged in inter-caste, inter-faith, and queer-trans marriages and associations. This work involves:

*    Working towards the enactment of national and state legislations to prevent honour-based crimes.
*    Ensuring that honour-based crimes are recorded[1], shared publicly, and that survivors receive justice and protection.
*    Raising awareness among the public on honour-based crimes using all forms of media.
Kindly click the link and join the network:https://www.dhrdnet.org/invitation-network-to-prevent-honour-based-crimes/

Requirements for members.

This is a voluntary network. However, given the urgency of the issue, if possible, then we request all members to make time for the following:

*    If possible, to attend online public meeting to be held on the last Friday of every month to discuss actions and plans.
*    Endorsement of the demand for state and national level legislations to prevent honour-based crimes.
*    Inclusion of honour-based crimes prevention in the work done by your organization/network.

For far too long, honour-based crimes in India have gone unreported, unaddressed and most importantly its survivors and victims have received no justice or support for recovery.

Join the National network aimed at combating and addressing crimes committed in the name of honour. No more impunity, no more loss.

In the absence of a specific law that makes ‘honour’ as the motive behind killing, the cases remain reported under diverse laws. The NCRB data elucidates that in 2018, there were 10,773 people who eloped due to their “love relationships,” which shows that there are numerous people who are at risk of being killed due to their inter-caste/regional romantic relationships.
Manjula 
Director of Campaigns
DHRDNet

Attack on Kunal Kamra
We, the Citizens of India, strongly condemn the terror tactics and vandalism being displayed by Party ‘Leaders’ of the ruling alliance in Maharashtra.

We accept that these people lack the intellectual ability to engage in dialogue and discussion with opposing views and opinions and also lack the ability and appreciation of humour and satire. we sympathise with their limitations and volunteer to educate them if they have the ability and will.

We condemn the terror tactics displayed by members of the Shinde Sena who displayed their ‘bravery’ by vandalising the property of a private hotel used by Kunal Kamra to shoot one of his shows in which he referred to the betrayal by DCM Shinde in his lust for power.

The Constitution of India guarantees every citizen’s right to freedom of speech and opinion. No ‘law-abiding’ citizen has the right to take the law in his or her own hands and indulge in vandalism. This is an act of Urban Terror.

We, Law abiding Mumbaikars urge the CM, who has been broadcasting his resolve to use bulldozer to ‘punish’ people he accuses of rioting and who is pushing through a draconian law to ‘punish those he brands ‘Urban Naxals’ in Maharashtra, to act promptly and punish members of his ally’s party who are acting as urban terrorists, destroying private property and terrorising and intimidating honestly law-abiding citizens.
Dr G G Parikh (Veteran Freedom Fighter, Mumbai), & others

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Frontier
Vol 57, No. 44, Apr 27 - May 3, 2025