(AP) Official figures show more than 1.8 million people have applied for asylum in Germany in the past five years. The figures, first reported Friday by German daily Bild, show a sharp rise in asylum requests from 123,581 in 2013 to 723,938 […]
(Yle) There are currently as many as 3,000 girls in Finland who face the risk of being subjected to female genital mutilation or FGM, according to an analysis released by the National Institute for Health and Welfare on Friday. The THL data […]
(Middle East Eye) More than 100 community groups across Canada have called on Justin Trudeau’s government to designate January 29 a National Day of Action against Hate and Intolerance, in memory of the victims of a deadly attack on a Canadian mosque […]
(AFP) Switzerland’s government on Wednesday backtracked from its pledge to support a United Nations migration pact after lawmakers insisted they have the final say on the matter. The United States, several European countries along with Israel and Australia have already said they […]
(Deutsche Welle) The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ordered Austria to roll back regulations on Wednesday that saw refugees given markedly less social assistance than native-born Austrians. The ECJ ruled that the Austrian measure from 2015 was not compatible with EU directives […]
(WWMT) A federal judge in Detroit dismissed charges against two Michigan doctors who performed female genital mutilation on several girls. Attorneys for the doctors argue the procedures were religious rituals. The judge ruled the federal ban on female genital mutilation (FGM) unconstitutional. […]
(Local) Around ten rejected Afghan asylum seekers were transported to a Stockholm airport for deportation on Monday evening, following a mass protest outside the Migration Agency custody centre. A police spokesperson confirmed that the Afghan citizens were taken by bus from the […]
(AP) Turkey’s top diplomat on Tuesday presented top Trump administration officials with a series of big requests, including extradition of scores of people linked to an exiled Turkish cleric and a permanent exemption from U.S. sanctions for importing Iranian oil. Foreign Minister […]
(IPT) Ice cream now is controversial. Welcome to America in 2018. Ben & Jerry’s, which has supported liberal causes throughout its history, likely did not anticipate the criticism and talk of boycotts that followed its Oct. 31 announcement of a new, limited-time […]
(WDRB) The Muhammad Ali Center has received a major donation from an Islamic non-profit humanitarian agency. Islamic Relief USA has given $100,000 to the center on its 13th anniversary, according to a news release. The Alexandria, Virginia-based organization says [it’s] an effort to honor […]
(i24) Palestinian-American civil rights activist Linda Sarsour has published an open letter in response to claims of anti-Semitism targeting her and the Women’s March movement she leads. Her message is not intended as an apology, nor is it meant to “persuade or […]
(JTA) Women’s March co-founder Teresa Shook called on its current organizers to step down Monday, saying they “allowed anti-Semitism.” In a Facebook post, Shook said Bob Bland, Tamika Mallory, Linda Sarsour and Carmen Perez “have steered the Movement away from its true […]
(AFP) Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Monday made his first official visit to Morocco, where he pushed for greater cooperation between the two countries on tackling migration. Spain has this year become the main entry point for migrants crossing the Mediterranean, […]
(Local) Around 100 people have gathered in Märsta, north of Stockholm, on Monday in an attempt to stop the deportation of a group of Afghan citizens. Roughly 50 people are reportedly scheduled to leave on a flight at 9.40 pm heading to […]
(Deutsche Welle) The German Interior Ministry on Sunday confirmed plans to facilitate and accelerate deportations of failed asylum-seekers along with those who should have their asylum requests processed in another EU country under the so-called Dublin rules. One of the measures submitted […]
(AFP) Tariq Ramadan, a leading Islamic scholar held in France since February on charges of raping two women, was released on bail Friday after he persuaded judges he was not a flight threat. The 56-year-old Swiss academic, who took leave of his […]
(Sofia Globe) Responding to objections from various faiths, parties in Bulgaria’s Parliament are revising amendments to the Religious Denomination Act before the bill is put to a second reading. This emerged after a meeting between two parliamentary groups, Prime Minister Boiko Borissov’s […]
(AFP) Germany is examining if Syrians convicted of crimes in Europe’s biggest economy or who are deemed dangerous can be sent back to their conflict-torn country, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said Friday. “That is being looked at closely in our ministry,” Seehofer […]
(AFP) Tariq Ramadan, a leading Islamic scholar held in France since February on charges he raped two women, on Thursday won conditional release after testifying in an appeals court. A Paris court ruled in favour of Ramadan after the 56-year-old Swiss academic […]
(Daily Sabah) A video shared by Austria’s anti-migration far-right Freedom Party (FPO) that explicitly portrayed Muslims and Turks as scammers has triggered widespread reaction from Austrian citizens and organizations, with politicians calling on the chancellor to respond. The 39-second video provided information […]
(AFP) Italian far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini on Wednesday met dozens of African migrants, recently evacuated from Libya by the UN, and sought to reassure them that Italy is “a welcoming, generous and supportive country.” Salvini, who has been at the forefront […]
(Dutch News) Support for the ruling right-wing liberal VVD has dropped in the latest poll of polls but has gone up for the anti-Islam PVV and the Labour party. The poll of polls, an amalgam of six separate opinion polls, puts support […]
(IPT) Last month, Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) leader Zahra Billoo said that “pro-Israel work is pro-terror, pro-violence … and pro-apartheid.” Days later, Billoo received the Community Builder Award from People Acting in Community Together (PACT) during the organization’s annual leadership event. […]
(BBC) Three British imams have joined calls for the UK to offer asylum to Asia Bibi, the Pakistani Christian woman recently acquitted of blasphemy. It comes after former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, and other politicians, urged the government to help her. Ms […]
(JNS) The Zionist Organization of America condemned Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), the first Palestinian-American elected to Congress, on Tuesday for wrapping herself in a Palestinian flag last week at her election victory party. Tlaib is known to support BDS and other anti-Israel beliefs. […]
(AFP) Italian police on Tuesday bulldozed a symbolic makeshift camp in Rome which has housed tens of thousands of migrants during their journeys to northern Italy and the rest of Europe. “Stateless, lawless no-man’s lands will no longer be tolerated,” Interior Minister […]
(AFP) Several thousand protesters rallied in Rome on Saturday to protest against what they criticised as unfair anti-migrant policies promoted by far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini. Waving banners with slogans “Black lives matter” and “Welcome for all; Open the borders,” leftists joined […]
(JTA) When the head of Germany’s main Jewish organization said only one Bundestag party was not invited to Friday’s commemoration of the Kristallnacht pogroms, few had any doubt: He meant the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany, or AfD. And it was the only […]
(JTA) A vigil held by pro-Israel activists in London for Jews murdered in Arab countries was dispersed after men shouted in Arabic about killing Jews. The event by the Israel Advocacy Movement was held Wednesday on Speaker’s Corner in Hyde Park, which […]
(Local) The French government revealed this week that the number of deportations of undocumented migrants has shot up by 20 percent in 2018. Interior Minister Christophe Castaner revealed the figure to MPs in the National Assembly on Tuesday and claimed responsibility for […]
(CBC) In the wake of a deadly attack on a U.S. synagogue, people of faith from across the Greater Toronto Area gathered at Jewish places of worship on Saturday in an act of defiant solidarity. More than 200 attendees from various religious […]
(Times of Israel) During a recent sermon at the Islamic Center of South Florida, an imam called for the “liberation” of Palestine, even at the cost of tens of millions of Muslim lives. “If a land is occupied or plundered, it should […]
(BBC) A failed asylum seeker is facing removal from the UK despite a family judge ruling her nine-year-old daughter would be at risk of female genital mutilation (FGM) if she goes. The High Court heard the woman, who has links to Bahrain […]
(Dutch News) A man spotted at the Balie debating centre in Amsterdam last September and accused of being a former IS fighter by Syrian activists has been arrested on terrorism charges. The public prosecution department says they consider it likely the 32-year-old […]
(JNS) An organization whose imam was president of a group that was an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation terror case supported a vigil on Monday, hosted by Adas Israel Congregation in Washington, in the aftermath of a gunman shooting and killing 11 Jews […]
(AFP) Austria said Wednesday it will not sign a United Nations migration pact that is set to be adopted in December, in order to “defend its national sovereignty.” The United States and Hungary have already rejected the Global Compact for Migration, which […]
(Radio France) A police officer charged with protecting the editor of France’s controversial Charlie Hebdo paper has been suspended because of suspicions he might have been attracted to radical Islamism, according to press reports. The officer, who has not been named in […]
(IPT) Expressions of grief, shock and solidarity came from all corners Saturday and Sunday as a horrified nation learned about a Jew-hating gunman’s attack on a historic Pittsburgh synagogue. Eleven Jews were killed because they were Jews, gathered for Shabbat services at […]
(Radio France) An Algerian-born spokeswoman for France’s mainstream-right Republicans has said she has been the victim of death threats and vicious messages by radical Islamists in an article published after a man was found guilty of hate speech in tweets to her […]
(KNTV) The Council on American-Islamic Relations has filed a complaint against Samsung on behalf of a Muslim man who alleges religious discrimination during a job interview at the company in 2017, CAIR said Thursday. The man interviewed at the company in Menlo […]
(Anadolu) Defaming the Prophet Muhammed “goes beyond the permissible limits of an objective debate” and “could stir up prejudice and put at risk religious peace” and thus exceeds the permissible limits of freedom of expression, ruled the European Court of Human Rights […]
(Local) The number of requests for asylum in Switzerland was down nearly a fifth in the first nine months of 2018 and at its lowest level since 2010. A total of 11,484 people requested asylum in the country from January to June, […]
(Economist) The word “Salafism” is often used loosely, especially in continental Europe. When the relationship between Islam and jihadist violence is discussed in, say, France or Germany, the assumption is often made that the problem begins and ends with the Salafis — […]
(Local) A Swiss court has handed eight men suspended sentences of up to 18 months for their role in a 2016 attack in which two worshippers at a controversial mosque in Winterthur were beaten, locked up and threatened with death over suspicions […]
(AFP) French police cleared 1,800 migrants from a makeshift camp near Dunkirk on Tuesday, hoping to deter people-traffickers seeking to smuggle them across the Channel to Britain. Hundreds of police flooded the Grande-Synthe camp at dawn to expel the migrants, most of […]
(BBC) Jailed Islamist Fouad Belkacem, whose group Sharia4Belgium sent dozens of jihadists to Syria, has been stripped of his Belgian citizenship and faces deportation to Morocco. The appeal court in Antwerp ruled that he had fallen seriously short of his duties as […]
(AFP) Spain sent 55 migrants back to Morocco on Monday a day after they forced their way into the Spanish territory of Melilla during an assault on the border in which two migrants died and 19 were injured. A total of 208 […]
(AFP) Leading Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan, charged with raping two women in France, claimed Monday that he had consensual sex with both of them after previously denying any physical contact. Ramadan, a well-known TV commentator, has strongly denied accusations that he raped […]
(Deutsche Welle) Thousands of people turned out on Sunday in the eastern German city of Dresden in defiance of a fourth-anniversary rally by the anti-immigrant PEGIDA movement. The far-right group’s march through the city took place at the same time and attracted […]
(BBC) Radical preacher Anjem Choudary has had his assets frozen, days before he is due to leave prison. The 51-year-old, who was jailed for five-and-a-half years for inviting support for the Islamic State group, is expected to be released on Friday. The […]
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