Mosques

Is Islamist radicalization returning to the Western Balkans? The recent crossbow attack on a Serbian police officer guarding the Israeli Embassy in Belgrade has stoked fears that the Israel-Hamas war could trigger a wave of radicalization in the region. Are these fears justified?

(Deutsche Welle) The Islam practiced in Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Sandzak region in southwestern Serbia is considered open-minded and tolerant. For centuries, Sunni Muslims have lived their own form of a European Islam here alongside Christians and Jews. Since the 1990s, however, this […]

Immigration

A new terror threat is emerging in Europe linked to Iran, Gaza war Security services are on edge as the Israel-Hamas conflict galvanizes new actors

(Wall Street Journal) Authorities in Europe say they have foiled several terror plots, some involving suspects posing as refugees, raising alarm about a growing array of threats from extremists. In one previously unreported investigation last December, police in Austria and Bosnia arrested […]

Academics & Education

Germany trains new generation of Muslim leaders In a groundbreaking move, Germany trains its own Muslim religious leaders, fostering a deeper connection with local communities. Muslim associations across the country are seeing a generational change and reorientation.

(Deutsche Welle) Osman Soyer is a religious affairs officer who was sworn into office this month in the Sehitlik Mosque in Berlin’s Neukölln district. He is one of 28 young men and women who have been trained as “religious representatives” by DITIB, […]

News: Europe

‘Threat-board flashes red’ over Gaza radicalisation spilling into Europe Continued Israeli military operation is driving more people into the arms of extremists, experts tell the National

(National-UAE) Widespread terrorist attacks by Islamic extremists in Europe are a genuine prospect as a result of the mounting deaths in Gaza, security analysts have told the National. While increased state surveillance has made it difficult to mount spectacular attacks such as […]

Books

Hugo Micheron: ‘The jihad has shifted from terrorist cells to families’ The French political scientist, an expert in Islamist extremism, cautions against becoming complacent about terrorism in Europe

(El País) Hugo Micheron, one of the brightest in a long line of French Arabists, recently published La colère et l’oubli (Anger and oblivion, in French), a history of European jihadism in which he explores a landscape still marked by ignorance and […]

Legal

Ex-New York resident sentenced to life in prison for helping ISIS Mirsad Kandic, a Kosovo native who had lived in New York before traveling to ISIS territory, was found guilty last year of conspiracy and of providing material support to the group.

(NY Times) In 2013, Mirsad Kandic began working with the Islamic State, helping to advance its campaign of global jihad. Over the next four years, he fought in at least one battle and operated from safe houses in Syria, Turkey and Bosnia, […]

Government & Politics

Judge: Italy illegally expels asylum seekers An Italian judge ordered the Interior Ministry to assess a gay Pakistani man’s claim for asylum after he was forcefully and immediately expelled from Italy last summer.

(Courthouse News) Italy is illegally sending asylum seekers who cross its borders back into the Balkans, where they are routinely beaten and mistreated by police, according to an Italian judge. In a ruling this week, Judge Silvia Albano with the Court of […]