(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 […]
(IPT) Facts, in the social media age, often fail to overcome a simple, emotional punch. That’s especially true when dealing with uncomfortable facts. Rather than offer contrasting information, or even try to explain how a situation or opinion might have changed over […]
(Euronews) The co-founder of Belgium’s Islam Party has been given a suspended six-month jail term for gender discrimination. Redouane Ahrouch appeared on Belgian television channel RTL-TVI for a political debate but allegedly refused to make eye contact with journalist Emmanuelle Praet. Ahrouch […]
(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 […]
(IPT) Islam’s holy month of Ramadan began Sunday, so it’s not surprising that the U.S. House turned to a Muslim cleric to provide Thursday’s invocation. The problem is with the cleric chosen. Omar Suleiman is a conservative imam who has a history […]
(Deutsche Welle) “I was an honor killing” and “The bundle under this shroud is me”: Through sentences like these, an off-screen voice speaks in the name of Hatun Aynur Sürücü, who was shot by one of her brothers on the street in 2005. The film A Regular Woman unsparingly […]
(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 […]
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(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 […]
(Detroit Free Press) In a move that could revive Detroit’s historic female genital mutilation prosecution, Congress has intervened in the case, saying the Department of Justice gave up too easily on the law that makes the cutting practice illegal. Months after a federal […]
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(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 […]
(AFP) A European elections campaign poster by Germany’s AfD featuring a 19th-century painting called “The Slave Market” has raised hackles, with a US art museum demanding that the far-right party withdraw the advert. The Berlin chapter of Germany’s anti-immigration party has featured […]
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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 […]
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(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 […]
(CTV) In the face of increasing Islamophobia, a group of Muslims in Toronto is vowing to reclaim the mosque as a sacred and safe space for women. The Women’s Mosque of Canada marked its first prayer meeting in Toronto Friday, in an […]
(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 — […]
(Detroit News) Federal prosecutors will not appeal a judge’s order dismissing female genital mutilation charges in the first criminal case of its kind nationwide, concluding the law is weak and needs to be rewritten. The decision delivers a setback to international human-rights […]
(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 […]
(Dutch News) The ban on facial coverings in public spaces has been delayed by a month and will now take effect on August 1, home affairs minister Kajsa Ollongren has said. The so-called “burka ban” will apply in schools, universities, government buildings […]
(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 […]
(Times of Israel) A New Jersey imam has accused the chief rabbi of the Israeli army of condoning the rape of Palestinian women. In a February sermon at the Islamic Center of Passaic County in Paterson, NJ, Baker Assaf said Muslims should […]
(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 […]
(IPT) She certainly looked like Linda Sarsour, the flame-throwing Islamist political activist. And the speaker had Sarsour’s voice. But the woman who spoke Monday night at New York University’s Skirball Center for the Performing Arts seemed entirely unfamiliar with Sarsour’s own views. […]
(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 […]
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