Month: November 2020

(BBC) Six boats carrying 159 people have been found by UK authorities as migrants continue to try to cross the English Channel. The Home Office released Tuesday’s figures and said authorities in France prevented about 30 people making the journey on the […]

The future of the frontline: Hijab introduced to police uniform, first officer to wear it ‘proud’

November 10, 2020 Anna Leask

(NZ Herald) When the Christchurch terror attack happened, Zeena Ali was inspired to join the police to help her Muslim community. And this week she will not only graduate as a police officer, but will become the first in New Zealand to […]

Eight to stand trial over 2016 terror attack in Nice

(AFP) Seven men and a woman will stand trial in France for alleged links to the perpetrator of the 2016 attack in Nice that killed 86 people when he rammed a truck into Bastille Day revellers. The three main suspects, Mohamed Ghraieb, […]

Final St. Louis defendant in terror funding case gets 4 years in prison

November 10, 2020 Robert Patrick

(St. Louis Post-Dispatch) A St. Louis County woman was sentenced Tuesday to four years in federal prison for helping supply money and equipment to a man who fought and died in Syria for the Islamic State. Sedina Hodzic also will be deported […]

EU to tighten rules on online extremism after latest attacks

November 10, 2020 John Chalmers and Gabriela Baczynska

(Reuters) The EU plans to tighten its rules to combat online extremism, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday, ahead of a meeting this week between ministers under pressure to beef up security following deadly attacks in France and […]

Macron stirs controversy with defence of French secularism

November 10, 2020 Clare Byrne

(AFP) President Emmanuel Macron has stirred controversy even beyond the Muslim world with a staunch defence of the French model for secularism and integration of minorities in the wake of a string of attacks blamed on Islamist radicals. The approach of Macron […]

Wave of migrant arrivals leaves 2,000 stranded at Gran Canaria dockside camp

November 10, 2020 Borja Suarez

(Reuters) More than 2,000 African migrants were stranded in a dockside camp on the Spanish island of Gran Canaria on Tuesday after a wave of arrivals overwhelmed local authorities’ capacity to house them. “It’s a disaster. There’s a huge spike in arrivals […]

Manchester Arena inquiry: Bomber’s hiding spot ‘not patrolled’

(BBC) Staff were not expected to check an area at Manchester Arena where Salman Abedi hid for nearly an hour before the venue bombing, a security boss said. Venue operator SMG and security provider Showsec had opposing views on whose responsibility it […]

France, Germany push for tighter EU borders after attacks

November 10, 2020 Thomas Escritt and Matthieu Protard

(Reuters) France and Germany pushed on Tuesday to tighten European Union borders to head off what French President Emmanuel Macron called the “threat of terrorism” after suspected Islamist militants killed eight people in Paris, Nice and Vienna within a month. The attacks […]

Trio on trial for aiding 2017 Barcelona attackers

November 10, 2020 Alvaro Villalobos and Daniel Silva

(AFP) Three men went on trial Tuesday for helping the jihadists behind the 2017 attacks in Barcelona and a nearby town that killed 16 people and left 140 wounded. The Islamic State group took responsibility for the August 17-18 bloodshed, including a […]

Germany’s imams seen as key in combating radicalization Imam training is in the spotlight of this year's German Islam Conference. In light of recent terror attacks, Germany's interior minister said a new training program for German-speaking imams was 'money well-spent.'

(Deutsche Welle) The latest spate of terror attacks in France and Austria will not hamper the cooperation between the government and Germany’s Muslim community, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said on Tuesday. “We won’t let terrorism and extremism derail us,” Seehofer said at […]

Migrants brought to UK as six boats intercepted

November 9, 2020 Unlisted Author

(BBC) Eighty migrants in six boats have been intercepted by Border Force officials in the English Channel. The Home Office has confirmed that Border Force dealt with a series of incidents on Monday. Meanwhile, French authorities prevented about 50 people making the […]

Peterborough mosque wants daily calls to prayer played through loudspeaker (LINK ONLY)

November 9, 2020 EoI News

Eye on Islamism is no longer printing excerpts from articles published by certain news sources. To read the original article, click here.

Judge imposes 78-month sentence on Indiana woman who helped ISIS

November 9, 2020 Bill Dolan

(Times of Northwest Indiana) A federal judge imprisoned an Indiana woman who helped fund a Middle East terrorist organization and put her husband on the front line of war-torn Syria. U.S. District Court Judge Philip Simon imposed a 78-month sentence on Samantha […]

Uphold religious symbol ban to spare children from being influenced by hijab, Quebec parents plead Court case against Quebec's Bill 21 hears from supporters of the law for the first time

November 9, 2020 Jonathan Montpetit

(CBC) Several parents pleaded with a Quebec Superior Court judge on Monday to uphold the province’s religious symbols ban in order to shield their children from being exposed to the hijab, which they believe conveys a “pernicious” sexist message. The parents, all […]

NYC settles lawsuit over forced removal of head coverings when religiously observant person is under arrest

November 9, 2020 Graham Rayman

(NY Daily News) The NYPD will no longer force religiously observant people under arrest to remove their head coverings, like hijabs — an agreement with civil rights groups that ends nearly three years of litigation. The police practice, often done to take […]

Greece and France boost terror intelligence sharing

November 9, 2020 Yiannis Souliotis

(Kathimerini) Prompted by the recent attacks in Paris and Nice, Greece and France have agreed to boost intelligence sharing on known or suspected terrorists, Kathimerini understands. According to sources, the two sides will build a task force to monitor suspected extremists from […]

CAIR wants Biden to dump Trump’s travel bans, Obama-era visa curbs, and Bush-era terror database

November 9, 2020 Patrick Goodenough

(CNS) As the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) looks towards a Biden presidency, its wish list includes the scrapping not only of President Trump’s travel bans, but also of legislation, signed into law by President Obama in 2015, which created the basis […]

Austria police raid dozens of ‘Islamist-linked’ targets

November 9, 2020 Jastinder Khera

(AFP) Austrian police on Monday raided more than 60 addresses allegedly linked to radical Islamists and seized millions of euros in cash, with orders for 30 suspects to be questioned. The operation came a week after a convicted Islamic State group supporter […]

EU’s Michel wants school for imams to combat terrorism and radicalization European Council president says Europe must fight extremist ideologies.

November 9, 2020 Hans von der Burchard and Rym Momtaz

(Politico) European Council President Charles Michel on Monday called for the creation of a European institute to train imams as a way to curb hate speech and prevent terrorism. Speaking in Vienna, where he paid tribute to the victims of last week’s […]

Manchester Arena inquiry: ‘Stakes too high’ to delay ‘Martyn’s Law’

November 9, 2020 Unlisted Author

(BBC) The mother of a Manchester Arena bomb victim has urged the government to move forward with its promised consultation on “Martyn’s Law.” Figen Murray, whose son Martyn Hett died in the attack, wants to bring in legislation to step up security […]

Boy in beheading plot among 100 terrorists up for release (LINK ONLY)

November 8, 2020 EoI News

Eye on Islamism is no longer printing excerpts from articles published by certain news sources. To read the original article, click here.

Over 1,600 migrants reach Spain’s Canary Islands, 1 dies

(AP) More than 1,600 migrants have either been rescued at sea or reached Spain’s Canary Islands in small boats over the weekend, emergency services for the archipelago said Sunday. The body of one person who had died during the perilous journey was […]

French moderate imam requests extra police protection amid death threats over support for Macron (LINK ONLY)

November 8, 2020 EoI News

Eye on Islamism is no longer printing excerpts from articles published by certain news sources. To read the original article, click here.

Muslim voters want more than ‘just a seat’ at the table from President-elect Joe Biden

November 8, 2020 Sarah Parvini

(LA Times) In the lead-up to the midterm election two years ago, Sara Deen noticed that many fellow Muslims in her South Bay community weren’t voters. Some didn’t understand the process. More lacked faith that their voice would matter or had trouble […]

US ‘Muslim ban’ set to end ‘on day one’ of Biden presidency President-elect has pledged to immediately halt travel restrictions imposed by the Trump administration on more than a dozen nations.

(Al-Jazeera) On the first day of his presidency, president-elect Joe Biden intends to rescind Donald Trump’s travel bans on travellers from 13 countries, most either majority-Muslim or African nations. Shortly after taking office in 2017, Trump issued an executive order that banned […]

French minister seeks to ease tensions over cartoons in Cairo visit

(AFP) French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian was in Egypt Sunday where he sought to ease tensions with the Arab world, after the furore surrounding the republication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. Le Drian met with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Foreign […]

Two men arrested in Switzerland visited Vienna attacker in July: paper

November 8, 2020 Silke Koltrowitz

(Reuters) The two men arrested in the Swiss town of Winterthur near Zurich last week over possible links to a jihadist shooting attack in Vienna on Nov. 2 visited the attacker in July and he may have visited the Zurich region, Swiss […]

Attorney general takes charge of investigation into Swiss ties to Vienna attack

(Swiss Info) Next week the federal prosecutor’s office will assume responsibility for criminal proceedings of two men arrested in Switzerland over alleged ties to the Vienna terrorist attacker. The transfer of the case from Canton Zurich to the federal level was confirmed […]

Austria’s Muslims wary of backlash after attack

November 7, 2020 Denise Hruby

(AFP) When Osama Abu El Hosna found himself under a hail of bullets during the shooting rampage in Vienna, he heroically risked his life to save a policeman at the scene. But while Hosna has been lauded for his courage, other Muslims […]

Groups say over half of Muslim candidates win US office Seven of 110 Muslim candidates make history as first Muslim officials elected to respective state office

November 7, 2020 Michael Gabriel Hernandez

(Anadolu) More than half of all Muslim-American candidates for public office who ran in the general election won their races, a trio of Muslim advocacy groups said Friday. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Jetpac and MPower Change said of the 110 […]

Two more teens arrested in case of teacher threatened over Islamic terror cartoon

November 7, 2020 Unlisted Author

(NL Times) Police in Rotterdam arrested two more suspects on Saturday as part of the investigation into threats made against a schoolteacher at the Emmauscollege. The apprehended suspects include an 18-year-old man from The Hague and a 17-year-old boy from Amsterdam. They were suspected […]

French police quiz child apologists of teacher’s beheading

November 7, 2020 John Leicester

(AP) Police in France questioned four 10-year-olds who voiced support for the beheading of a schoolteacher and who said they would kill their own teacher if he lampooned Islam’s prophet, the government reported as the prime minister warned Saturday that Islamic extremists […]

French PM says ‘radical Islamism’ the ‘enemy’ after Nice attack

November 7, 2020 Claudine Renaud

(AFP) French Prime Minister Jean Castex on Saturday lamented the killings of three people killed by a knife attacker in Mediterranean city Nice and named “radical Islamism” as an “enemy” for the country. “We know the enemy, it has not only been […]

Parliament votes to clarify Finland’s FGM laws Female genital mutilation is already prohibited in Finland, but a citizens’ initiative had called for a separate law.

(Yle) Finland’s Parliament has voted by a margin of 141 to 10 to make a ban on female genital mutilation (FGM) more explicit in Finnish law. There were no abstentions from the vote but 48 MPs were absent. The vote calls on […]

Man in court accused of sharing of IS videos

(BBC) A man has appeared before the Old Bailey accused of sharing Islamic State group videos. German national Florian Flegel, 22, was arrested at Stansted Airport in Essex on 22 October when he was about to board a flight to Germany. He […]

France fines Islamic scholar for revealing rape accuser’s name

(AFP) A Paris court on Friday fined Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan for disclosing the name of one of several women who have accused him of rape, violating a French law that protects alleged victims from “retaliation and harassment.” Ramadan, who denies the […]

Italy, France consider giving Tunisia migrant boat alerts

November 6, 2020 Frances D'Emilio

(AP) Italy and France are considering deploying sea or air craft to alert Tunisia to the departure of clandestine boats ferrying migrants north to Italian shores, like the young Tunisian man who is the chief suspect in a fatal knife attack at […]

Child among migrants to cross the English Channel

(BBC) A child was among 96 migrants to have crossed the Channel in the last two days. It is thought to be the first crossings in small boats since a family died attempting the journey. The Home Office says 56 people made […]

Trio on trial for helping Barcelona jihadist attack cell

November 6, 2020 Daniel Bosque and Alvaro Villalobos

(AFP) Three men go on trial at Spain’s top criminal court Tuesday for helping the perpetrators of twin jihadist attacks in 2017 that killed 16 in Barcelona and a nearby seaside town. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the bloodshed which […]

Polish government vows to introduce new bill to end ritual slaughter

November 6, 2020 Cnaan Liphshiz

(JTA) The Polish government has scrapped a bill that would have banned the production of kosher and halal meat, but vowed to introduce a new one. Agriculture Minister Grzegorz Puda announced Wednesday that the bill, already passed by parliament, will not be […]

Three teens charged in French teacher’s beheading

(AFP) Three teenagers were indicted Friday in the murder of French history teacher Samuel Paty, beheaded last month after showing cartoons of the Prophet Mohamed to his students during a free speech lesson, a judicial source told AFP. Two 18-year-old men and […]

[Panel] clears UK pharmacist who said ‘Zionists’ were responsible for London fire

November 6, 2020 Cnaan Liphshiz

(JTA) The ethics panel of Britain’s pharmaceutical regulatory agency ruled that a member’s claim that “Zionists” were guilty of “murder” in the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire was “offensive but not anti-Semitic.” The Practice Committee of the General Pharmaceutical Council declined on Thursday […]

Dutch PM Rutte condemns threats to teacher over cartoon

November 6, 2020 Mike Corder

(AP) Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Friday that threats that forced a teacher in the port city of Rotterdam to go [into] hiding after some students objected to a political cartoon displayed in his classroom must not be tolerated. Rutte spoke […]

France church attacker transferred to Paris