Academics & Education

Austria: Opinion leaders condemn Muslim headscarf ban Law bans headscarves for girls under age of 10 at all primary schools across country, including private schools

(Anadolu) Opinion leaders say the ban in Austria on religious headscarves in primary schools is clearly discriminatory against Muslims and contradicts with the principles of equality and freedom of religion. The bill, which was passed in Austria’s parliament on May 15 and […]

Academics & Education

French Senate votes to ban headscarf on school trips Upper house adopts bill that prohibits mothers from wearing headscarf while accompanying students on school trips

(Anadolu) France’s upper house of the parliament on Thursday adopted a bill that prohibits mothers from wearing headscarf while accompanying the students on school trips. The bill was presented in the country’s senate by the conservative Republican party. The bill was passed […]

Academics & Education

Bill 21 won’t apply to us, Quebec’s English school boards say QESBA cites Supreme Court ruling in arguing English boards exempt from proposed law

(CBC) An organization representing all nine of Quebec’s English school boards says the province’s proposed ban on religious symbols can’t be imposed on them, potentially opening a new front in the legal resistance to the legislation. Like some of their French counterparts, English schools boards […]

Academics & Education

At Quebec secularism bill hearings, government challenged to say why trampling religious rights is necessary Quebec's Legislature opens 2 weeks of hearings into controversial bill

(CBC) After spending all day hearing from defenders of his secularism bill, Quebec Immigration Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette was confronted Tuesday evening with a challenge from a wispy-haired, 87-year-old philosopher. “We are still waiting for an explanation about why this is necessary,” Charles Taylor told Jolin-Barrette at legislative hearing […]

Academics & Education

German conference on Islamic veil sparks controversy Islamic veils are a hot topic in Germany, particularly due to a growing Muslim population. Now, outcry over an academic conference on the issue has surprised even its organizer, who says freedom of speech is at stake.

(Deutsche Welle) Islamic veils and headscarves remain the subject of heated public debate in Germany. Some view them as part and parcel of religious freedom; others as a symbol of women’s oppression in Islam. The German court system has already taken up […]

Academics & Education

Quebec’s largest school board condemns religious symbols ban CSDM hopes government will be open to compromise during consultations, which start next week

(CBC) Quebec’s largest school board has come out against the province’s plan to ban teachers from wearing religious symbols in the classroom, saying it runs contrary to the school board’s mission and would be difficult to enforce. The Commission scolaire de Montréal (CSDM) outlined […]

Academics & Education

Germany to push for imams to be trained locally, not abroad In an effort to curb foreign influence and foster integration, the German government is pressing for imams to be educated locally, in Germany. Are German Muslim communities willing to back the idea? DW investigates.

(Deutsche Welle) Forty-three-year-old imam Murat Gül is president of the Islamic Federation of Berlin and teaches Islam at the local Rosa Parks primary school. “Ever since I was a young boy, I had a love for the Koran,” said Gül, who was […]

Academics & Education

Germany: Muslim kindergarten loses appeal against closure State officials had ordered 'Al Nur' to close following revelations that inappropriate literature had been shared at the kindergarten. The day care center is the only Muslim kindergarten in Rhineland-Palatinate.

(Deutsche Welle) The only Muslim kindergarten in the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate lost its appeal to stay open after an administrative court confirmed state officials’ concerns about the school’s ties to an Islamist ideology. The state’s decision to revoke Al Nur kindergarten’s license was […]

Academics & Education

Linda Sarsour’s NYU makeover

(IPT) She certainly looked like Linda Sarsour, the flame-throwing Islamist political activist. And the speaker had Sarsour’s voice. But the woman who spoke Monday night at New York University’s Skirball Center for the Performing Arts seemed entirely unfamiliar with Sarsour’s own views. […]

Academics & Education

Public school teachers, principals to be banned from wearing religious symbols Sources have told Radio-Canada the CAQ's secularism bill will go further than initially expected

(CBC) Quebec public schools teachers and school principals will be prohibited from wearing religious symbols such as the hijab or kippa, under a bill likely to be tabled later this week in the provincial legislature. The long-awaited legislation from the Coaltion Avenir […]

Academics & Education

California school district forced to dump CAIR’s Islamic indoctrination program San Diego district settles federal lawsuit brought by Freedom of Conscience Defense Fund.

(FrontPage) The Freedom of Conscience Defense Fund forced an unprecedented lawsuit settlement on the San Diego Unified School District, which partnered with the terrorism-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations, requiring the district to shut down its discriminatory, unconstitutional “anti-Islamophobia initiative.” The embattled CAIR […]

Academics & Education

Germany: Bavarian court upholds headscarf ban for judges, prosecutors Bavaria's constitutional court has confirmed the legitimacy of the southern German state's ban on judges and prosecutors wearing headscarves. It said the presence of crosses in courtrooms was another matter altogether.

(Deutsche Welle) The Bavarian constitutional court on Monday rejected an appeal by an Islamic religious community to overturn a ban on judges and prosecutors wearing headscarves, saying that justice officials in particular were obliged to be neutral in questions of religion and ideology. The […]