(Reuters) The organization representing Austria’s Muslims said on Thursday it would ask the Constitutional Court to reverse a ban on headscarves in primary schools a day after it was passed in parliament. There were an estimated 700,000 Muslims living in Austria in […]
(Atlanta Journal-Constitution) A Muslim woman has filed a discrimination complaint against the Georgia Department of Corrections, alleging the agency violated her religious beliefs by not allowing her to wear a hijab at work. In the complaint filed with the Georgia Commission on […]
(Pittsburgh Tribune-Review) Several Penn-Trafford School District alumni are up in arms over a perceived racist video of an active shooter drill at the high school. The video, posted on Twitter, shows a man — who some believe was serving as the active […]
(Brussels Times) Several members of the Francophone environmentalist party, Ecolo, have distributed unapproved flyers in Laeken with political stances on wearing a headscarf in public administration and at school, and for un-anaesthetised slaughter. “Should the headscarf be allowed in the counter? Yes. […]
(AFP) Austrian MPs on Wednesday approved a law aimed at banning the headscarf in primary schools, a measure proposed by the ruling right-wing government. So as to avoid charges that the law discriminates against Muslims, the text refers to any “ideologically or […]
(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 […]
(CBC) The mayor of Quebec’s biggest city accused the provincial government on Tuesday of rushing ahead with a controversial proposal to restrict religious symbols without considering the harm it will cause Montreal’s diverse population. At a legislative hearing in Quebec City, Valérie Plante said the […]
(CBC) City councillors have voted down a motion that would have urged Montreal police to allow officers to wear religious symbols on the job. Councillors voted Tuesday 32-19 against the motion, debated on the same day Mayor Valérie Plante testified at Quebec’s Bill […]
(CBC) There has been a sharp increase in harassment directed at Muslim women in Quebec since the province tabled draft legislation to ban religious symbols in parts of the civil service, according to a women’s advocacy group. Justice Femme, a Montreal organization that […]
(Swiss Info) An appeal to suspend a provision of a Geneva law that reinforces the separation of religion and state has failed. In February, the secularism law was accepted by over 55% of voters in canton Geneva. Among the provisions covered by […]
(CBC) For the second time this week, the Quebec government has been forced to distance itself from a supporter of its secularism bill who made incendiary remarks about Islam at a legislative hearing. The bill proposes barring some civil servants — including public […]
(CBC) It wasn’t until late on the second day of hearings into Quebec’s secularism bill that lawmakers heard from someone who wears one of the religious symbols targeted by the legislation. But by the time Samira Laouni wrapped up her testimony, the committee was […]
(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 […]
(CBC) Legislative hearings into Quebec’s controversial secularism bill began Tuesday amid concerns that religious groups have largely been excluded from the process. Premier François Legault remains insistent that Bill 21, which was tabled in late March, will be passed before the National […]
(CBC) Racha Cheaib, a particle physicist, often helps organize an annual event at a Muslim community centre in Montreal to celebrate girls who decide to wear the hijab. Last year, far-right groups sought to disrupt the event, and twice succeeded in getting […]
(CTV) Hundreds of Montrealers linked arms to form a human chain around the Palais de Justice on Sunday to express opposition to Bill 21, days before hearings about the legislation take place. Canadian Council of Muslim Women spokesperson Shaheen Ashraf was among […]
(CTV) A pro-Bill 21 rally was held in downtown Montreal Saturday afternoon. Hundreds of people — many of them donning patriotic gear and waving Quebec flags — gathered on de Maisonneuve Boulevard, not far from Papineau Avenue. “La Vague Bleue” — the […]
(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 […]
(Sydney Morning Herald) The NSW Police Force has been ordered to publish an apology and implement racial vilification training for senior officers after a tribunal found a police training exercise in October 2017 racially vilified Palestinians and Arabs and portrayed them as […]
(CTV) Police forces are refusing to participate in public consultations on Bill 21, which aims to prohibit the wearing of religious symbols by many civil servants. On Monday, the secretary of the Committee on Institutions, Carolyne Paquette, confirmed that the Quebec Bar […]
(Sports Illustrated) We are absolutely thrilled to announce that Halima Aden is the newest member of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit family, making history as the first Muslim model to wear a hijab and burkini in the magazine. The Somali-American model was born in […]
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(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 […]
(Daily Sabah) The Versailles Court of Appeals ruled on Thursday against a company for firing an employee in 2008 for refusing to take her headscarf off, saying she was let go without a just cause. The court said Asma Bougnaoui had the […]
(CBC) Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante has been the target of an escalating series of violent threats, apparently sparked by her staunch opposition to the provincial government’s secularism bill. Plante spoke publicly last month about receiving hateful comments after she first criticized Bill […]
(CBC) The minister responsible for Quebec’s proposed secularism law says there will be no exemption for Montreal, a day after city council unanimously denounced Bill 21. Immigration Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette said he welcomes the City of Montreal’s input as hearings begin on the […]
(CBC) Montreal city councillors have unanimously adopted a declaration against the Quebec government’s secularism bill, put forward by the mayor and leader of the opposition. The bipartisan declaration, signed by Mayor Valérie Plante and Ensemble Montréal interim leader Lionel Perez, presents a […]
(CBC) Montrealers took to the streets to protest Quebec’s proposed religious neutrality bill at two separate rallies on Sunday, in Côte Saint-Luc and in downtown Montreal. If adopted, Bill 21 would prevent public employees — including teachers, police officers and judges — […]
(CBC) Ameni Ben Ammar lays out a spread of Tunisian hospitality on the coffee table of her small apartment in downtown Montreal. Traditional pastries, a homemade cheese chicken pie and Tunisian wine. Despite having left six years ago, the bond with her […]
(CBC) Hampstead Mayor William Steinberg is facing growing pressure to apologize for saying Quebec’s proposed religious symbol ban amounts to “ethnic cleansing.” But instead of apologizing, on Tuesday he opted to clarify his comments, referring to the ban’s effect as a “peaceful ethnic cleansing.” […]
(CBC) Thousands of protesters gathered in downtown Montreal on Sunday afternoon to protest the Quebec government’s Bill 21 — proposed legislation that would ban some public employees from wearing symbols of their faith. “Quebec is not France, long live the difference!” protesters chanted […]
(CBC) A week after tabling the legislation, opposition to the Coalition Avenir Québec government’s plan to ban certain public workers from wearing religious symbols is growing more organized — and more vitriolic. Politicians in Montreal’s west end at the federal, provincial and municipal level came […]
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(Army Times) Following a rejected equal opportunity complaint and a demotion in rank, a Muslim soldier who has accused her Fort Carson, Colorado, leadership of religious discrimination is contemplating a federal lawsuit, her attorney confirmed to Army Times on Wednesday. Spc. Cesilia […]
(Deutsche Welle) Muslim head coverings have always been a controversial topic, as they embody so many issues, whether women’s rights worldwide or Western prejudice and discrimination against Muslims. Now that the first exhibition dedicated to fashion consciousness of women in Islam is […]
(Montreal Gazette) To the staccato of blaring horns and cheers from motorists on Ste-Catherine St., students and teachers formed a human chain outside Westmount High School on Wednesday morning to protest against Bill 21. The row of people — about 200 — […]
(Reuters) Norwegian police are investigating a threat made against telecoms company Telia after a commercial that used themes of sexual equality and empowerment caused an online backlash. The threat was made in writing, according to the police who gave no further details […]
(National Post) Quebec’s newly tabled law, “An Act respecting the laicity of the State,” will be sent to committee for study, and with the help of the notwithstanding clause, will pass as written. The new law prohibits all government employees in positions […]
(Toronto Sun) It has been 10 years since Quebec’s Bouchard-Taylor Commission recommended that all public officials who embody the authority and the neutrality of the state and its institutions, such as judges, crown prosecutors, police officers, prison guards and the president and […]
(CBC) The mayor of Montreal calls it “very concerning.” Religious groups say it’s discriminatory. And civil liberties groups have vowed to fight. But what legal options do these groups have in the face of the Coalition Avenir Québec government’s secularism bill, and what […]
(CBC) Civil rights activists in the National Capital Region say they will challenge Quebec’s secularism bill introduced Thursday by the Coalition Avenir Québec government. The legislation bans public workers from wearing religious symbols such as the kippa or hijab. This includes judges, crown prosecutors, teachers and principals, although the bill […]
(CBC) The Coalition Avenir Québec government is proposing a new law that would prohibit public workers in positions of authority from wearing religious symbols such as a hijab, kippa or turban. The stated aim of the bill, titled, “An act respecting the laicity of […]
(CBC) As the Quebec government prepares to table its secularism bill, constitutional experts are raising concerns about Premier François Legault’s reported plans to pre-emptively invoke the notwithstanding clause to ensure public workers in positions of authority are banned from wearing religious symbols. Robert Leckey, dean of McGill […]
(Reuters) A campaign by New Zealand women including Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to don headscarves as a sign of solidarity with Muslim women after the nation’s mosque shootings has divided opinion over whether the gesture was a help or a hindrance. Ardern […]
(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 […]
(HuffPost) The Council on [American-Islamic] Relations called on advertisers Monday to boycott Fox News until the network axes host Jeanine Pirro. The call comes just days after Pirro’s Saturday night program, “Justice with Judge Jeanine,” was yanked by Fox after she said in […]
(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 […]
(Local) In an early test for Geneva’s controversial new secularism law, a Muslim councillor on Tuesday chose to sit in the public gallery during a recent council meeting rather than obey the new legislation by removing her headscarf so that she could […]
(Army Times) Sgt. Cesilia Valdovinos was at a chapel at Fort Carson, Colorado, for a suicide prevention briefing on March 6 when she says her command sergeant major grabbed her by the arm, took her outside and made her remove her religious […]
(CNS) The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is calling on Fox News to fire host Jeanine Pirro — and wants her show’s advertisers boycotted until it does — after Pirro linked Rep. Ilhan Omar’s wearing of a hijab to shari’a (Islamic law), […]
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