Government & Politics

Israel-Hamas war poses long-term security threat, Belgian minister warns Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden tells POLITICO ‘flammability’ will likely continue even beyond any ceasefire.

(Politico) The Israel-Hamas war has created a long-term threat to European security that is likely to last beyond any ceasefire, Belgium’s Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden has warned. Several countries, including Belgium, have raised their security threat level after terror attacks carried out […]

Clerics & Preachers

France to cease acceptance of foreign-appointed imams starting 2024 France’s history of controversial measures has fueled concerns that this latest move is a continuation of policies targeting Islamic practices.

(Morocco World News) French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin has announced that France will no longer accept new “detached imams” from foreign countries starting on January 1, 2024. The announcement follows President Emmanuel Macron’s 2020 decision to end the presence of around 300 […]

Government & Politics

Muslim community leaders will meet in Chicago to push campaign against Biden as deaths mount in Israel-Hamas war Chicago’s #AbandonBiden event is scheduled to coincide with the annual Muslim American Society and Islamic Circle of North America convention, expected to draw more than 30,000 to McCormick Place over the weekend.

(Chicago Sun-Times) Muslim community leaders from across the country will rally in Chicago Saturday, calling for voters to drop their support for President Joe Biden because of his administration’s refusal to call for a cease-fire in Gaza as the civilian death toll […]

Government & Politics

Austria wants to tap Islamists’ messenger apps amid Europe terrorism fears Germany and Austria arrest a group of people from Tajikistan over warnings of a New Year's Eve attack

(National-UAE) Austria’s interior minister is calling for the security services to be given access to suspects’ messenger apps in an attempt to thwart terrorist attacks. [This] comes after five people from Tajikistan were arrested in Austria and Germany with European nations on […]

Government & Politics

‘You no longer represent us’: New Jersey Muslims mobilize against longtime congressman over Israel stance A constituency that helped him keep his seat a decade ago now wants him out of office.

(Politico) Last time Rep. Bill Pascrell faced a serious primary challenge, he ended up winning by a 20-point margin after the Arab American community rallied in support of the New Jersey Democrat. Now that same constituency is turning against him, posing a […]

Government & Politics

Lawmakers criticize Associated Press for declining to classify Hamas as a terrorist group Guidance from the news service’s influential style guide urges against utilizing the terms ‘terrorist’ and ‘terrorism’ to describe Hamas and its Oct. 7 attack on Israel

(Jewish Insider) A bipartisan group of House lawmakers sent a letter on Friday criticizing the Associated Press and its style guide for guidance that advises against using the terms “terrorist” and “terrorism” to describe Hamas and its Oct. 7 attack on Israel. […]

Crime

Germany braces for potential New Year’s Eve riots Police have stepped up preparations to deal with violence against them and emergency service staff on New Year's Eve. There are worries that the situation in the Middle East could worsen the problem.

(Deutsche Welle) Germany’s Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said she fears a repeat of New Year rioting and attacks on emergency services in Berlin and other cities. “I’m worried that New Year’s Eve could once again be a day on which we are forced […]

Government & Politics

CAIR quietly scrubs Democrats’ praise for group after blowback over leader’s pro-Hamas comments Nihad Awad, CAIR's executive director, said he was 'happy to see' Hamas attack Israel

(Fox) The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) appears to have scrubbed Democratic lawmakers’ praise for its group from its website following blowback over its leader’s controversial statements regarding Hamas, Fox News Digital has discovered. Nihad Awad, CAIR’s executive director, recently said he […]

Government & Politics

Rep. Jahana Hayes met with Connecticut CAIR chapter earlier this month Other Democrats have distanced themselves from CAIR after its executive director praised the Oct. 7 Hamas attack

(Jewish Insider) Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-CT) met with affiliates of the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ (CAIR) Connecticut chapter in early December, according to a Facebook post from the group. CAIR has come under recent scrutiny over its supportive rhetoric regarding Hamas’ Oct. […]

Discrimination & “Islamophobia”

Muslim civil rights group condemns GOP senators’ treatment of Muslim court pick Ted Cruz and Tom Cotton's hostility toward Biden nominee Adeel Mangi was 'Islamophobic and un-American,' said the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

(HuffPost) The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the largest Muslim civil rights organization in the country, on Friday denounced three Republican senators for their treatment of President Joe Biden’s historic judicial nominee Adeel Mangi during his recent confirmation hearing. GOP Sens. Ted Cruz […]

Government & Politics

Congressman probes White House communications with anti-Israel group Rep. Issa seeks info on Biden admin's partnership with Council on American-Islamic Relations

(Free Beacon) A Republican in Congress is probing the Biden administration’s communications with an anti-Israel group that is known to promulgate anti-Semitic propaganda and whose leader celebrated Hamas’s Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel, the Washington Free Beacon has learned. Rep. Darrell […]

Children & Teens

UK repatriates one woman and five children from northeastern Syria The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the AANES have repeatedly urged foreign countries to repatriate their citizens stuck in Syria.

(Kurdistan 24) The Kurdish-led civilian Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES)’s Foreign Relations Department announced on Tuesday that they recently handed over a woman and five children to a delegation from the United Kingdom. In a video statement read by […]

Government & Politics

Germany’s CDU redefines stance on Islam in new manifesto Under Friedrich Merz, Germany's Christian Democratic Union is revising its manifesto, sparking controversy with its new stance on Islam and migration. The party's new direction marks a departure from the Merkel era.

(Deutsche Welle) The new color scheme a few months back was only a cosmetic step. Now, Germany’s center-right Christian Democrats are going under the hood. For the first time since 2007, the party that ruled Germany for most of the republic’s young […]

Demonstrations

Denmark’s Quran-burning ban draws sharp criticism Denmark now bows to the demands of dictatorial Middle Eastern regimes, Danish People’s Party MP Mikkel Bjørn Sørensen said.

(European Conservative) The decision taken by the left-liberal majority in the Danish parliament, the Folketing, late last week to ban public Quran burning has garnered sharp criticism from both domestic politicians and political leaders in neighboring Scandinavian countries, with many arguing the […]

Crime

Pro-Palestine group who confronted Starmer in Scotland praised Hamas’ 7 October atrocities Two people were charged after the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign urged activists to confront Labour leader in Glasgow on Thursday

(Jewish News) A pro-Palestine group who confronted Keir Starmer as he arrived in Glasgow for a speaking event issued a statement on the day of the 7 October Hamas terror attacks in Israel praising them as “remarkable gains made by the Palestinian […]

Government & Politics

White House distances itself from CAIR, condemns director’s ‘antisemitic statements’ The White House scrubbed a mention of CAIR from an antisemitism fact sheet and pledged that the group has no involvement in efforts to draft a national Islamophobia strategy

(Jewish Insider) The White House on Thursday distanced itself from the Council on American-Islamic Relations after the leader of the Muslim advocacy organization gave a speech celebrating the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack in Israel. “We condemn these shocking, antisemitic statements in […]

Citizenship

Germany: CDU fears Islamist bloc as millions of Turkish migrants to be granted voting rights Progressive plans to naturalise millions of migrants, many of them Turkish, [are] unsettling German conservatives as Turkey continues its collision course with the West.

(European Conservative) New German citizenship laws that expand voting rights to up to 2.5 million recent migrants are unnerving even the usually complacent CDU, with one conservative lawmaker airing fears that the new arrangement could enable a potential Islamist bloc to attain […]