Government & Politics

Seehofer: Germany will sign migration deal with Italy Agreement has not yet been signed but can be considered a ‘success,’ according to German interior minister.

(Politico) Berlin has struck a bilateral deal with Italy on migration that it will sign in the coming days, Germany’s Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said Thursday. The agreement follows two similar deals Germany struck with Spain and Greece earlier this summer, as […]

Discrimination & “Islamophobia”

Dutch party’s Islamophobic video sparks outrage Far-right Dutch party's campaign video calls for 'de-Islamization of the Netherlands'

(Anadolu) A political campaign video by a far-right Dutch party that was broadcast on state-run television has sparked outrage over its racist and Islamophobic content. The Netherlands’ state-television NPO aired the campaign video of the country’s Party for [Freedom (PVV) which calls […]

Children & Teens

Syrian community fears scapegoating after man new to Canada charged with murder of Marrisa Shen 'The saddest thing is mostly [I've] heard from other Syrians who are extremely shocked by what happened'

(CBC) Members of B.C.’s Syrian community say they are concerned the announcement of Ibrahim Ali’s murder charge for the death of Marrisa Shen — and Ali’s status as a former refugee — could lead to unwarranted backlash. Police on Monday announced that […]

Academics & Education

Danish left veering right on immigration Mandatory language lessons, tougher sentences for ghetto crimes, buildings demolished. Integration — by force.

(Politico) Denmark’s right-wing government might once have expected pushback from the left-wing opposition when it introduced a controversial new integration policy. No longer. A recent government proposal, to be finalized by parliament in the fall, would target the country’s so-called ghetto neighborhoods […]

Clerics & Preachers

Germany cuts funding to largest Turkish-Islamic organization DITIB The German federal government had provided funds to DITIB for counter-extremism and refugee aid programs. The Turkish-Islamic group has been under fire over a number of scandals.

(Deutsche Welle) The German government will no longer be funding projects run with the country’s largest Islamic umbrella group, the Interior Ministry in Berlin said on Thursday. Since the start of the year, the federal government has not approved any funding for […]

Crime

Yazidi woman encounters ‘Islamic State’ captor in Germany The past she was attempting to flee came back to haunt a young Yazidi woman in a small town in Germany. Her former IS tormentor confronted her on the street and 'told me he knew everything about me.'

(Deutsche Welle) A 19-year-old Yazidi woman has fled Germany with her family after encountering the “Islamic State” (IS) fighter who had enslaved her in Mosul on the streets of Schwäbisch Gmünd, a town in Baden-Württemberg. Ashwaq Haji Hamid arrived in the southwestern state with her […]

Clothing

Germany tolerant of LGBT neighbors, but not Muslim ones While homophobia has seen a drastic decrease in Germany over the years, Islamophobia has remained stubbornly stagnant. A new Playboy poll has found that most Germans are opposed to mosques, hijab, and refugee homes.

(Deutsche Welle) A new poll published on Thursday by Playboy Germany shows that while national hostility to minority sexualities may have taken a nosedive over the years, hostility to Islam remains depressingly stagnant. According to the survey, which polled over 1,000 men […]

Christians

Europe: Prayer in public spaces

(Gatestone) A few months ago, a global media tempest erupted after Polish Catholics held a mass public prayer event across the country. The BBC deemed it “controversial,” due to “concerns it could be seen as endorsing the state’s refusal to let in […]

History

Jewish-Muslim youth group visits Auschwitz in show of solidarity A group of young Muslim refugees and Jewish youths have visited the former Auschwitz concentration camp. The trip is aimed a fostering solidarity between the two communities and understanding Germany's past crimes.

(Deutsche Welle) “I need a shower for my soul and my body right now,” says Khaled Naeem. He has just come out of the dim building that houses the incinerators at Auschwitz and into the heat and blinding sun. He is deeply […]

History

Auschwitz: Muslim and Jewish groups hold multifaith memorial Jewish and Muslim leaders from Germany led a memorial for the victims of the Auschwitz death camp on the 74th anniversary of Nazi deportations from the Litzmannstadt ghetto. The ceremony was part of an educational tour.

(Deutsche Welle) Rabbi Henry Brandt and Aiman Mazyek of the Central Council of Muslims spoke at the entrance to Auschwitz on Thursday, at a memorial for the victims of the Nazi death camp. Mazyek said in his speech: “We promise that with […]

Government & Politics

Germany and Spain reach agreement on migrant return Berlin and Madrid have agreed to return to Spain some migrants arriving in Germany. The German interior minister is hoping for more bilateral agreements to return migrants to their point of entry into Europe.

(Deutsche Welle) A spokeswoman for the German Interior Ministry said Wednesday that an agreement had been made to send back to Spain some migrants arriving in Germany. Eleonore Petermann said the deal had been signed by the German and Spanish interior ministries on […]