Academics & Education

France: No Samuel Paty school after backlash over name change A French town won't rename a school after Samuel Paty — who was slain by an Islamist extremist — following backlash from teachers and parents. The move marks a sign of deeper divisions in French society.

(Deutsche Welle) No one at the school “The Eucalypts” in the village of Ollioules, near the Mediterranean coast in southern France, wants to talk to the media anymore. Sandra Olivier, maths teacher and member of the teachers’ union SNES-FSU, turned down DW’s […]

Academics & Education

French mosque accused of radicalism to reopen earlier Pantin mosque was closed for six months in October for disseminating video criticizing history teacher before his murder

(Anadolu) The Grand Mosque of Pantin near Paris, closed as part of a crackdown against radical Muslims by the French government in the aftermath of history teacher Samuel Paty’s assassination, will soon be reopened, the interior minister announced Monday. The mosque was […]

Academics & Education

France: Proposal to ban Islamic veil sparks criticism Macron’s controversial draft of ‘separatism’ bill causes heated debate, with amendments suggesting ban on Islamic veil

(Anadolu) An ongoing debate on the controversial draft of a “separatism” bill has sparked criticism, [and] resulted in a diversion, dividing the house on the question of [the] veil, whether to include amendments to ban veiled students at the university and accompanying […]

Academics & Education

Teaching assistant at Johns Hopkins threatened to fail pro-Israel students While the university has not issued a formal statement on the incident, Sunil Kumar, from the university’s provost office, said in an email to StandWithUs that it is 'aware of the incident.'

(JNS) Anti-Semitism watchdog groups are raising alarm over a graduate student and teaching assistant at Johns Hopkins University who threatened to fail pro-Israel students, while also making disparaging remarks about Israelis and white people. “We find it alarming that a teaching assistant […]

Academics & Education

Only Muslim school in Paris closed down amid claims of Islamophobia France targets the capital’s only school catering to Muslims amid a wider crackdown on the country’s 4.5 million Muslim population.

(TRT) Paris’s only Muslim school was shut down by French authorities while pressure continues to increase on Europe’s largest Muslim community. MHS College and High School is a private secondary in Paris, originally established in 2015. Although the school is officially secular […]

Academics & Education

House speaker appoints activist called ‘anti-Muslim’ to Tennessee textbook commission

(Tennessean) Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton’s recent appointment of long-time activist Laurie Cardoza-Moore to the Tennessee State Textbook Commission is already garnering backlash from some community members. On Tuesday, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) — the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization — called on […]

Academics & Education

European imam school ‘not feasible,’ says Paris mosque rector Chems-Eddine Hafiz said Charles Michel’s proposal was a ‘noble idea’ but not viable.

(Politico) The rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris has described European Council President Charles Michel’s proposal to create a European imam training institute as “not feasible.” Visiting Austria earlier this week after the terror attack in Vienna, Michel suggested establishing an […]

Academics & Education

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 […]

Academics & Education

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

(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 […]

Academics & Education

Hijab a symbol of empowerment, not oppression, plaintiffs argue at trial of Quebec secularism law Sociologist testifies that most Muslim women aren't forced to wear the headscarf

(CBC) Plaintiffs challenging Quebec’s ban on religious symbols sought to dismantle, on Tuesday, one of the main arguments made by supporters of the law — that the hijab is a symbol of female oppression and undermines gender equality. The Laicity Act, which was passed […]

Academics & Education

Quebec’s religious symbols ban dashed dreams and sparked hate, witnesses testify on 1st day of Bill 21 trial Groups argue secularism law unfairly bars Muslim women from public sector jobs, such as teaching and law

(CBC) A test of the constitutionality of Quebec’s secularism law began Monday amid tearful testimony from Muslim and Sikh teachers who said the law derailed their careers and made them targets of bigotry. The law, which was passed last year despite protests from civil […]

Academics & Education

Malta imam says religious vilification should be illegal, in France murder reaction Imam Mohammed El Sadi claimed the publication of Charlie Hebdo cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad played into the hands of Muslim extremists and extreme right groups

(Malta Today) The imam of the Paola mosque, Mohammed El Sadi, has once again called for the criminalisation of blasphemy and the mocking of faiths, in a reaction to the fanatical murder of a French teacher who displayed the notorious Charlie Hebdo […]