Government & Politics

Unions, red tape and ‘radical Islamists’: Legault lays out his battles in inaugural address With Quebec nearing an election year, the premier outlines plans for the last year of his mandate as the National Assembly resumes sitting.

(Montreal Gazette) Premier François Legault has revealed his roadmap for the year ahead. It includes financial relief for taxpayers, more secularism legislation to counter what he says is the assault on Quebec values by “radical Islamists,” and a plan to speed up […]

Christians

Man who sparred with Muslim Dearborn mayor, told he wasn’t ‘welcome’ revealed as Christian minister Edward Barham conducts Arabic-language Christian call to prayer in city with large Muslim population

(Fox) Christian minister Edward “Ted” Barham says he will not respond with hate after Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud told him he was “not welcome” during a heated city council exchange over a controversial honorary street sign naming that went viral. In a […]

Clerics & Preachers

Quebec vows to ban ‘street prayers’ in the wake of mass Islamic demonstrations Quebec anxiety with the sight of public Islamic prayers has been present in some form long before the practice became a fixture of anti-Israel protests

(National Post) With Quebec promising on Thursday to ban “street prayers,” the province’s minister of laicity has avoided mention of any particular faith. Jean-François Roberge issued a Thursday statement referencing only a “proliferation of street prayers” in Quebec. Roberge added that it […]

Discrimination & “Islamophobia”

Spanish government contests PP–Vox ban on Muslim prayers in Jumilla city sports centers Ban agreement 'incurs an abuse of power, using municipal authority to prevent Muslim religious celebrations in an improper and deviant manner,' says government

(Anadolu) The Spanish government has formally requested the Jumilla City Council in Murcia to revoke an agreement between the main opposition conservative People’s Party (PP) and the far-right Vox party that prohibits religious events in municipal sports centers, arguing that it violates […]

Academics & Education

Danish PM seeks to extend religious full-face veil ban to educational institutions Mette Frederiksen said on Thursday she was seeking to extend the 2018 niqab ban to educational institutions and remove prayer rooms, citing concerns about social control and oppression.

(Euronews) Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has called on Thursday for stricter measures limiting religious symbols and rituals in education, asking for a ban on full-coverage veils worn by some Muslim women to be extended to schools and universities. The country’s overall […]

Children & Teens

Islamists recruit at-risk children from French emergency shelters The overwhelmed and poorly trained staff leave the field open to recruiters of all kinds, such as preachers close to the Muslim Brotherhood.

(European Conservative) Amid a rise in militant Muslim fundamentalism, French facilities for vulnerable children appear to be deliberately targeted by Islamist recruiters, who see them as perfect candidates for radicalisation. This concern comes after reports highlighting other numerous shortcomings of the child […]

Academics & Education

‘Pointless provocation’: Muslim prayer taught to Catholic pupils in Italian mosque Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini described the scene as an example of the 'silent Islamization of Italian schools.'

(European Conservative) A group of Catholic preschoolers kneeling in a mosque during a school trip has sparked a political uproar in Italy, with critics decrying the episode as a case of religious indoctrination and cultural surrender — reigniting fierce debate over the […]

Academics & Education

New Ofsted chair Hamid Patel said ‘Trojan Horse’ scandal alienated Muslims Patel said now-debunked allegations of a plot to [take over] Birmingham schools had left Muslim teachers fearful of 'establishment suspicion'

(Middle East Eye) The new interim chair of Ofsted, the UK’s school regulator, has previously criticised the official narrative around the Birmingham “Trojan Horse” affair, saying the episode left some Muslims worried that expressing their faith would bring about “establishment suspicion.” The Trojan […]

Academics & Education

Quebec education minister suggests expanding religious symbol ban to some school support staff Bernard Drainville vowed to introduce new legislation to strengthen secularism in schools

(CBC) Quebec’s education minister said Friday the government is considering expanding its ban on religious symbols to include daycare supervisors and other school aides. Bernard Drainville told Radio-Canada’s Tout un matin he was concerned that there are some school staff members who […]

Academics & Education

After religious symbols law, Quebec eyes ban on public prayer: Where the province is headed on secularism Existing laws, jurisprudence appear to provide plenty of ammo for Quebec to address school controversies

(CBC) After the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government tabled its secularism bill, Premier François Legault recorded a video address that intended to reassure people who felt the proposed legislation was going too far. “I feel like saying ‘finally,’” the premier said in […]

Clerics & Preachers

London: Police say imam’s prayer calling to destroy Jewish homes not hate crime Metropolitan Police accused of 'two-tiered policing' after imam's call to curse and destroy the homes of Jews weeks after October 7 said to fail to meet 'threshold' of a hate crime.

(Arutz Sheva) The Metropolitan Police have declared that an imam’s prayer to “destroy Jewish homes” does not constitute a hate crime, the Jewish Chronicle reported. The anti-Jewish prayer was uttered at an east London mosque two weeks after the Hamas terrorist organization […]

Government & Politics

Court upholds fine against illegal Saudi-funded mosque in Helsinki The Helsinki Administrative Court ruled that religious activities on the premises did not constitute daycare activities, as specified in a permit for the facilities.

(Yle) The Helsinki Administrative Court has rejected appeals related to a fine imposed last year on a mosque operating in a Helsinki apartment building. The owner of the property, the Ormuspuisto housing company, and the Pohjoismaiden Säätiö (“Nordic Foundation”), which operates on […]

Academics & Education

Ministry suspends licences of 11 teachers at Bedford school as Legault vows to reinforce secularism rules 'We have a group of teachers who tried to introduce Islamic religious concepts into a Quebec public school, putting aside science as a way of helping students,' the premier said.

(Montreal Gazette) With the Legault government saying the evidence shows Quebec’s secularism law was being flouted, 11 teachers at Montreal’s Bedford elementary school have had their teaching licences suspended by the Education Ministry pending the conclusions of an investigation. And the government […]