Government & Politics

EU lawmakers endorse pact to revise migration rules The proposal would speed the return of migrants entering the EU without permission and force countries to accept asylum seekers during emergencies.

(Politico) EU lawmakers on Thursday gave the green light to a central plank of the EU’s flagship migration package, the latest sign of progress on long-stalled reforms. The European Parliament measure endorses new rules seeking to speed up the return of migrants […]

Children & Teens

Suella Braverman describes grooming gang comments as ‘unfashionable facts’ after backlash The home secretary claimed it was not racist to speak 'plain truths' after she was accused of amplifying far-right narratives with claims most grooming gang members are British-Pakistani.

(Sky News) Suella Braverman has defended her use of language after claiming grooming gang members are “almost all British-Pakistani,” describing them as “unfashionable facts” in the face of a backlash. In a column for the Spectator, the home secretary said it was […]

Government & Politics

EU lawmakers break ranks to endorse controversial funding for border protection The amendment’s approval killed a broader budget bill as EU lawmakers squabbled over the subject.

(Politico) The EU’s brawl over whether to pay for border fencing has spilled into the European Parliament. On Wednesday, EU lawmakers approved a controversial amendment endorsing the use of EU funds to help support border barriers, although it stopped short of explicitly […]

Government & Politics

Member of Alberta multiculturalism council resigns over past antisemitic posts A letter rejecting Tariq Khan as a UCP nominee in 2018 references a video he shared labelling the Holocaust a hoax

(Canadian Press) A member of Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s new multiculturalism panel resigned Monday after the opposition resurrected past antisemitic social media posts. The Alberta NDP asked Smith to remove Tariq Khan, a Calgary-based realtor, from the Premier’s Council on Multiculturalism, citing […]

Government & Politics

Omar no longer a speaker at US Commission on Religious Freedom event The congresswoman, who has a long history of antisemitic statements, was previously slated to speak at the release of the commission’s 2023 annual report.

(JNS) Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), who has compared boycotts of Israel and of Nazi Germany, was slated to deliver opening remarks at a U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom event on Yom Hazikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day for Fallen Soldiers and Terror Victims, […]

Government & Politics

Minneapolis mayor signs ordinance allowing Islamic call to prayer year round Muslim leaders say Minneapolis is now the first major U.S. city to allow broadcasts of all five daily calls to prayer.

(KARE) With the stroke of a pen, the more than 20 mosques throughout Minneapolis are now allowed to publicly broadcast the Adhan, the Islamic call to prayer, five times per day throughout the year. Mayor Jacob Frey officially signed the new ordinance […]

Demonstrations

Berlin bans protests of terrorist NGO after calls of ‘death to Israel’ A protest including chants of 'Death to Jews' and 'Death to Israel' was organized by Samidoun, a Palestinian NGO that is classified as a terrorist entity by Israel.

(Jerusalem Post) The authorities in the city-state of Berlin banned protests on Saturday and Sunday, organized by the Israeli government-designated terrorist NGO Samidoun that aids Palestinian terrorists. This was reported by the Berlin newspaper BZ on Friday. A police official said: “According […]

Government & Politics

Tory councillor previously accused of ‘abhorrent antisemitism’ welcomed at Downing St Exclusive: Party chairman Greg Hands invites councillor Ishfaq Hussain, who was also pictured recently with prime minister Rishi Sunak, to Number 10

(Jewish News) A Conservative councillor, previously suspended for social media posts that were branded “abhorrent and antisemitic” by the Jewish Leadership Council, has been invited to an event at Downing Street by party chairman Greg Hands. Councillor Ishfaq Hussain, who once posted the […]

Children & Teens

Muslim groups urge Suella Braverman to withdraw ‘irresponsible and divisive’ grooming gang comments A Home Office-commissioned study in 2020 found that group-based child sexual exploitation offenders are most commonly white.

(Sky News) Suella Braverman has been urged to withdraw “divisive” comments around child sexual exploitation (CSE) by dozens of medical bodies, businesses and Muslim community organisations, Sky News can reveal. A number of Muslim organisations across the country have written to Rishi […]

Demonstrations

German protesters call for ‘death to Israel’ and ‘death to Jews’ in Berlin The reportedly antisemitic march unfolded in two Berlin neighborhoods with large Muslim presence, Kreuzberg and Neukölln, and centered on the current controversy on the Temple Mount.

(Jerusalem Post) Israel’s Ambassador to Germany Ron Prosor slammed a rally of mainly five hundred German Muslims who on Saturday blasted calls for the obliteration of Israel and Jews in Berlin. Prosor wrote on Twitter in German: “These idiots abuse Germany’s freedoms […]

Government & Politics

The adhan, five times a day: Minneapolis City Council poised to vote on allowing a full daily set of Muslim prayer calls year-round Minneapolis has limited the broadcast of the Islamic call to prayer to three or four times a day. The City Council will vote next week on a proposal to expand that to five times a day.

(Sahan Journal) Minneapolis mosques would be able to broadcast the adhan — the Islamic call to prayer — five times a day under a proposed ordinance unanimously approved March 29 by the City Council’s Public Health and Safety Committee. The resolution would […]

Government & Politics

Home Office confirms plan to house asylum seekers in giant barge in Dorset The plan has proved controversial after the local MP and council raised concerns the area is inappropriate for hundreds of asylum seekers to be placed. But the government has said it needs to move them out of expensive hotels.

(Sky News) A giant vessel docked off the Dorset coast will be used to hold hundreds of asylum seekers, the Home Office has confirmed, despite legal threats from local Tories. The barge, called the Bibby Stockholm, will be berthed in Portland Port […]

Children & Teens

Repatriation of Canadian women and children detained in Syrian camps underway, says lawyer Government has not yet confirmed repatriation has started or said how many are returning

(CBC) Multiple Canadian women and their children are on their way back to Canada after spending years held in camps for ISIS suspects and their families in northeastern Syria, according to their lawyer. Ottawa lawyer Lawrence Greenspon told CBC News that some of his clients […]

Demographics

Advocacy group seeks Middle Eastern, North African category included in Census, other federal forms Advocates believe adding a MENA category will make a difference in schools, health care and more accurate data collection.

(WDET) The National Network for Arab American Communities (NNAAC) is working to get the Middle Eastern and North African designation added to the federal Office of Management and Budget. NNAAC is an advocacy arm of Arab Community Center for Economic and Social […]