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French lawyer attacks EU over poster featuring Muslim woman Social media outburst puts France’s treatment of its minority Muslim population — the largest in Europe — back in the spotlight.

(Al-Jazeera) A French lawyer has criticised the European Union over an advertisement for its Conference on the Future of Europe event featuring a hijab-wearing Muslim woman. Thibault de Montbrial, an adviser to France’s centre-right presidential hopeful Valerie Pecresse, said the use of […]

Academics & Education

Austrian Greens take flak over alleged coalition deal for headscarf ban Thought to be ally to Muslims in Austria, Greens party rejects allegations that erupted after emergence of leaked documents

(Anadolu) Austria’s Greens party continued to take public criticism on Wednesday over an alleged coalition agreement to ban headscarves for teachers in schools. Recently leaked documents suggested that the Greens had engaged in an undisclosed deal with the Austrian People’s Party (OVP) […]

Academics & Education

Lawyers training school in Paris accused of Islamophobia Student lawyer claimed she was forced to remove her headscarf, threatened with expulsion from oath ceremony

(Anadolu) A young Muslim student accused France’s foremost legal institution of Islamophobia after being threatened with expulsion from an oath ceremony for wearing a headscarf. Graduating lawyer Sara, who only revealed her first name, told Revolution Permanente, a far-left digital news site, […]

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Canadian medical journal to retract letter calling hijabs ‘an instrument of oppression’ Letter from pediatric surgeon in Canadian Medical Association Journal drew immediate pushback

(CBC) The interim editor-in-chief of the Canadian Medical Association Journal on Thursday said the publication is formally retracting a letter it ran about hijabs that many have slammed as Islamophobic. Kirsten Patrick’s announcement comes days after she posted on Twitter, apologizing for the letter, which called the religious […]

Academics & Education

Quebec’s English school boards will have to apply secularism law until court hears challenge EMSB didn't sufficiently prove how applying law would be harmful, Quebec Court of Appeal rules

(CBC) Quebec’s English school boards will have to abide by the province’s secularism law, known as Bill 21, until challenges against and in favour of the law are heard in court. The province’s Court of Appeal has rejected a request by the […]

Academics & Education

English Montreal School Board asks court to speed up exemption from religious symbols law EMSB argues waiting for appeal process to play out is causing irreparable harm

(CBC) The English Montreal School Board was before the Quebec Court of Appeal Monday, asking for an acceleration of its exemption to Bill 21, the controversial law that prevents some civil servants in positions of authority — including teachers — from wearing religious […]

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As Muslim Advocates founder resigns, former staffers allege hostile workplace A group of former Muslim Advocates workers has come forward with allegations of workplace harassment and abuse by the civil rights organization's former management.

(Religion News) On the day in June when Muslim Advocates announced it had been selected for a high-profile donation from MacKenzie Scott, the philanthropist and former wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, the nonprofit touted “the tremendous work and accomplishments of our […]

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Employers can ban Muslim veils at work, top EU court rules Right-wing politicians across the European Union are cheering the Thursday morning decision against religious insignia.

(Courthouse News) The EU’s top court ruled on Thursday that companies can ban their employees from wearing headscarves and other religious symbols while on the clock. “An internal rule of an undertaking, prohibiting workers from wearing any visible sign of political, philosophical […]

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Polling official in French regional elections demoted for wearing headscarf Rachida Kabbouri was demoted to polling station assessor due to her headscarf allegedly violating 'neutrality'

(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) […]

Academics & Education

Quebec appeals Superior Court’s decision to nix parts of secularism law Justice minister says 'Quebec nation has made the choice of secularism'

(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 […]

Academics & Education

Muslim teachers in Quebec disappointed as landmark religious symbols ruling faces appeal Province plans to appeal decision on secular law that made exemption for English-language schools

(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 […]