(Brussels Times) On Friday, the leader of the Francophone liberal MR party, Georges-Louis Bouchez, protested against the fact that Brussels’ first public open-air swimming pool allows women to wear a burkini. The FLOW pool, which opened at the Pierre Marchant bridge in […]
(Anadolu) A top polling official during France’s regional elections last Sunday was demoted from her post for wearing a headscarf, according to official statements and French local media. Rachida Kabbouri, a Muslim municipal councilor of the European Ecology — The Greens (EELV) […]
(Brussels Times) The government of Brussels region has decided not to appeal a decision by the public transport authority STIB to stand by a ruling of the labour tribunal in favour of a Muslim woman who was twice turned down for a […]
(CBC) Alberta Premier Jason Kenney is denying he supported a ban on niqabs even though he issued a directive in 2011 banning women from wearing them during citizenship ceremonies when he was the federal minister of citizenship and immigration. Kenney made the remarks during a […]
(Canadian Press) A former Conservative cabinet minister is apologizing for not pushing against his party’s culturally divisive policies of the Stephen Harper era, including an effort to ban face coverings during citizenship ceremonies. In a Facebook post, Tory MP Tim Uppal says […]
(CBC) The vehicle attack in London, Ont., earlier this week, which killed all but one young member of the Afzaal family, was the third time in the last four years that Muslims in Canada have been murdered because of their faith. Since […]
(Canadian Press) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday the habit of wearing a mask during the COVID-19 pandemic might be changing Quebecers’ views on the province’s religious symbols ban. He was asked about Quebec’s secularism law, Bill 21, during a news conference […]
(Reuters) Laboratory technician Sara Zemmahi was running to be a local councillor backed by President Emmanuel Macron’s ruling party until last month when it withdrew its support. Her transgression: wearing her hijab in a campaign poster. The 26-year-old and the three other […]
(CBC) Quebec’s attorney general filed a notice of appeal Friday regarding the Superior Court decision on April 20, which upheld most, but not all, of the province’s controversial secularism law enacted under the Coalition Avenir Québec government. In that ruling, Justice Marc-André Blanchard […]
(Brussels Times) The president of the Francophone liberal MR party, Georges-Louis Bouchez, put the topic of the ban on headscarves back on the table following the appointment of Ihsane Haouach as government commissioner at the Institute of Equality for Women and Men. […]
(WFAA) A passenger on Southwest Airlines claimed she was discriminated against when she was allegedly told she could not sit in the aisle of the emergency exit door because she was wearing a hijab. Her sister, who was not wearing a hijab, says she […]
(Brussels Times) The Brussels public transport operator STIB-MIVB has decided not to appeal a discrimination conviction related to employees wearing headscarves, paving the way for an abolishment of the existing ban on head coverings that signal religious, political or philosophical beliefs. “STIB […]
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(Yle) Twenty-year-old Helsinki resident Fardowsa Mohamud has sparked a social media firestorm by calling attention to the Finnish military’s refusal to allow women service members to wear headscarves as part of their uniform. Mohamud said her dreams to serve as a peacekeeper […]
(AP) France’s long-standing debate over the Muslim headscarf has landed in a local political race, giving it a national message, with a decision by President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist party to withdraw its backing for a candidate because she was pictured in a […]
(AFP) The head of French President Emmanuel Macron’s political party has threatened to withdraw support for one of their own candidates in regional elections after she wore a headscarf for a campaign poster. The warning from Stanislas Guerini, who helped found Macron’s […]
(National-UAE) Muslims in Germany are alarmed over a new law that they say could lead to a ban on Islamic headscarves through the back door. The law, which comes as France debates a hijab ban for under-18s, would allow for German civil […]
(Canadian Press) Two groups that unsuccessfully challenged Quebec’s religious symbols law in court say they’ll be appealing last month’s ruling. The National Council of Canadian Muslims and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association say in a statement today the law known as Bill […]
(Reuters) Sixteen-year-old Mariem Chourak is a devout Muslim who considers wearing a hijab an expression of her devotion to the Prophet Mohammad, but a proposal by French senators might soon deny her the freedom to do so in public spaces. The amendment […]
(National-UAE) The beheading of a schoolteacher and the killing of a female police [employee] in terrorist attacks have resulted in a demand for tougher action to combat extremists in France. A so-called anti-separatism bill, which seeks to clamp down on extremism and […]
(NJ.com) Female Muslim police officers will no longer be barred from wearing a hijab as part of their uniform, Newark officials announced Thursday. “To be able to recognize people’s religion, how they practice it, and allow them to do that safely and […]
(CBC) Amar Al-Shakfa dropped off her CV at a Montreal school on Wednesday, a day after learning English school boards would be exempt from the province’s ban on religious symbols under a new court ruling. Al-Shakfa, a 25-year-old Montrealer who wears a […]
(Global News) After a Quebec Superior Court judge rendered a decision upholding most of the Legault government’s religious symbols ban for public employees, a new chapter in the legal battle over Bill 21 is set to begin. Coalition Inclusion Quebec, a group […]
(CBC) Seeking re-election in October 2019, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau baited his opponents over their lack of commitment to a court challenge against Bill 21, the controversial Quebec secularism law that bans public servants from wearing religious symbols at work. “I am […]
(CBC) Quebec’s secularism law violates the basic rights of religious minorities in the province, but those violations are permissible because of the Constitution’s notwithstanding clause, a Superior Court judge ruled on Tuesday. But the ruling by Justice Marc-André Blanchard also declared that […]
(Montreal Gazette) A highly anticipated legal decision on Quebec’s religious symbols law is expected to be issued on Tuesday. Quebec Superior Court Justice Marc-André Blanchard heard arguments last winter for and against Bill 21, the controversial secularism law adopted by the Legault […]
(Yonkers Times) For the first time in more than one year, the Yonkers City Council returned to their chambers on the 4th floor of City Hall to hold their regular meeting on April 13. At that meeting the council adopted the following […]
(Radio France) France’s right-wing majority Senate has approved proposals including expanded bans on religious symbols and clothing in a set of new draft laws to counter what President Emmanuel Macron has called Islamist separatism. Critics say the new measures, which may not […]
(Montreal Gazette) Amnesty International is condemning Canada’s record on its treatment of First Nations peoples and minority rights and has singled out Quebec for the adoption of Bill 21. The human rights organization’s criticisms were contained in its annual report made public […]
(Vogue) Less than a month after voters in Switzerland supported a ban on the burqa and niqab, its neighboring nation, France, has taken a more severe stance against “religious” clothing and symbols with its move to outlaw the hijab on women under […]
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(Mercury News) One of the region’s preeminent Muslim rights groups is demanding immediate policy and training changes based on a woman’s account that her hijab was forcibly removed while she was booked into a Santa Clara County jail, prompting her to resort […]
(Anadolu) France’s interior minister on Wednesday criticized two legal amendments adopted by lawmakers prohibiting parents from wearing visible religious symbols while accompanying their children on school trips and allowing public swimming pools to ban “burkini” swimwear. Gerald Darmanin said the measures, approved […]
(BBC) A judge ordered a Muslim woman to remove her veil while giving evidence at a virtual High Court hearing. The woman was embroiled in a dispute with her estranged husband over their children. She did not wish to be seen “unveiled” […]
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(Anadolu) The human rights board of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Saturday strongly condemned last Sunday’s referendum in Switzerland passing a ban of facial coverings. On Twitter, the OIC’s Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC) said it “strongly condemns Swiss […]
(JTA) Swiss voters passed a referendum on banning face-covering veils, prompting the country’s Muslim and Jewish groups to protest that infringement on religious freedoms. The Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities and the Platform for Liberal Jews in Switzerland said the ban, which […]
(Swiss Info) Unlike their compatriots in Switzerland, the Swiss abroad rejected the “anti-burka” initiative and the free trade deal with Indonesia by a slim margin. The biggest difference in voting trend was on the electronic ID referendum, which the Swiss abroad wanted […]
(AP) The U.N. human rights office expressed dismay on Tuesday that Switzerland is set to join a few other countries where “actively discriminating against Muslim women” is legal, after Swiss voters approved a ban on face coverings like burqas and niqabs that […]
(Swiss Info) Supporters of a people’s initiative to ban face coverings in public have carried the vote with a majority of 51.2%. A decade after another national vote that banned the building of minarets, Switzerland will introduce a clause in its constitution […]
(AP) At a time when seemingly everyone in Europe is wearing masks to battle COVID-19, the Swiss go to the polls Sunday to vote on a long-laid proposal to ban face coverings, both the niqabs and burqas worn by a few Muslim […]
(Politico) A majority of French high schoolers believe they and their classmates should be allowed to wear religious symbols such as a hijab or a kippah, a poll has found. “Conspicuous religious symbols” have been banned in schools since 2004 as part […]
(Reuters) “Stop Extremism!” urges a red billboard in a quiet village outside Zurich above an image of a scowling woman wearing a black headscarf and face veil. The billboard is part of a campaign by the far-right Swiss People’s Party (SVP) to […]
(Al-Jazeera) Less than a year ago, Valentina made the decision to switch her headscarf for a niqab. “I feel better and safer wearing it,” she told Al Jazeera. “It is also an act of worship.” For the 32-year-old from Switzerland, who prefers […]
(Courthouse News) In a consolidated case involving a drug store clerk and a day care center employee, a magistrate for the European Union’s high court held that employers can ban Islamic headscarves on neutrality grounds. In a nonbinding legal opinion for the […]
(Swiss Info) Support for a proposed ban on facial coverings, including burkas, in Switzerland appears to be on the wane according to a new opinion poll. A law on a licensed electronic ID scheme looks set to fail, while a controversial free […]
(MLive) Four women convicted of murder say in a federal lawsuit that Michigan prison officials violated their rights when they forced them to remove religious headwear for mug shots. The lawsuit is seeking class-action status on behalf of all prisoners, requesting a […]
(Swiss Info) More than ten years after a ballot on banning minarets, Swiss voters have the final say on a proposal to outlaw face coverings in public. Often referred to as “the burka ban,” the initiative by right-wing groups also includes a […]
(AFP) After months of controversy and 135 hours of parliamentary debate, MPs in France are set to approve a draft law to crack down on what has been termed “Islamist separatism” on Tuesday. AFP examines what is, and what isn’t, in the […]
(Politico) France’s Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin crossed swords with far-right leader Marine Le Pen Thursday night in a televised debate, with the two clashing over their competing visions on how to fight radical Islam and terrorism. The duel was highly anticipated, four […]
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