France

Government & Politics

Benzema’s defamation suit against top French minister is dismissed The French football star had filed a complaint against France’s Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin after the politician said Benzema was linked to the Muslim Brotherhood.

February 15, 2024   

(Politico) Karim Benzema’s defamation lawsuit against French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, who claimed the French football star was “notoriously linked” to the Muslim Brotherhood, has been dismissed. Benzema filed the complaint last month, following multiple remarks by Darmanin linking the striker to […]

Legal

France and Belgium in legal battle over Islamist terrorist Belgian lawyers and the French left have taken up the Paris 2015 attacker’s cause.

February 13, 2024   

(European Conservative) On Wednesday, February 7th, French Justice Minister Éric [Dupond]-Moretti announced the arrival on French soil of the terrorist Salah Abdeslam, who until then had been imprisoned in Belgium, to serve an “irreducible life imprisonment” (perpétuité incompressible) — a penalty that […]

Legal

European prosecutors adopt harsher sentences towards female ISIS returnees New book shows how different countries are adapting to an increase in female extremists behind bars

January 31, 2024   

(National-UAE) European prosecutors are adopting harsher sentences towards female ISIS returnees as their numbers increase due to government repatriation programmes from prison camps in north-east Syria, a new book published by Dutch counter-terrorism think tank ICCT has found. “Women can be both […]

Christians

Trèbes terrorist attack, five years on: A trial and a conversion The terrorism trial is an opportunity to recall the extraordinary heroism of Gendarmerie Colonel Arnaud Beltrame.

January 26, 2024   

(European Conservative) Five years after the Islamist attacks that cost a gendarmerie officer his life, the trial against the terrorism co-conspirators opened in Paris this week. Lieutenant-Colonel Arnaud Beltrame died at the hands of terrorists in the Islamist attacks in Trèbes and […]

Clerics & Preachers

France to cease acceptance of foreign-appointed imams starting 2024 France’s history of controversial measures has fueled concerns that this latest move is a continuation of policies targeting Islamic practices.

December 30, 2023   

(Morocco World News) French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin has announced that France will no longer accept new “detached imams” from foreign countries starting on January 1, 2024. The announcement follows President Emmanuel Macron’s 2020 decision to end the presence of around 300 […]

Academics & Education

Penalizing satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo for defamation is ‘historic’: Muslim association Court fined magazine's editor-in-chief, another journalist $3,330 each for linking school to Muslim Brotherhood

December 28, 2023   

(Anadolu) Penalizing the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo for defamation is a “historical decision,” a Muslim association said. The controversial magazine was fined on Dec. 22 for defaming the Muslim school “Valeurs et Reussite” in France’s southeastern town of Valence. The school […]

Christians

Warning of ‘increased risk’ of ISIS terror attacks across Europe on New Year’s Eve Experts say terror group remains a 'serious threat' as arrests made in Spain, Austria, France and Germany

December 26, 2023   

(National-UAE) Security services across Europe have uncovered an ISIS plot to use explosives to target churches. Counter-terrorism experts say the group remains a “serious threat” and is taking advantage of the conflict in Gaza to motivate its supporters. Over the Christmas period, […]

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

December 19, 2023   

(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 […]

Law Enforcement

Cage director banned from entering Switzerland to address meeting at UN Muhammad Rabbani held overnight after being stopped at Geneva Airport in latest incident which he says is a consequence of France adding his name to a European no-entry database

December 13, 2023   

(Middle East Eye) Border authorities in Switzerland have stopped the director of a UK-based human rights group from entering the country to address a meeting at the United Nations office in Geneva “after a request from France.” Posting on social media on […]

Academics & Education

Paty murder trial shines a light on France’s democracy Six minors are standing trial in Paris for their alleged role in the killing of a teacher. But some feel the authorities are missing this opportunity to examine the state of freedom of expression in France.

December 7, 2023   

(Deutsche Welle) The killing of French history teacher Samuel Paty on October 16, 2020, left the country in deep shock. And yet, some feel the first court case on the alleged role of six minors in the attack is failing to bring about […]

Children & Teens

ISIS propaganda seducing ‘new generation of teenagers’: French domestic intel Security chief warns Islamist ideology is likely to exist for a very long time to come.

December 6, 2023   

(Politico) A new generation of French teenagers is being wooed by the Islamic State terrorist group — infamous for its on-camera immolations of captives in Iraq — and seems ominously susceptible to the group’s propaganda, according to the head of France’s DGSI […]

Discrimination & “Islamophobia”

French Jewish journalist placed under police protection after threats Far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon accused of putting ‘a target’ on the journalist’s back.

December 4, 2023   

(Politico) Ruth Elkrief, a French Jewish columnist with TV broadcaster LCI, is being placed under police protection over threats she received after far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon criticized one of her interviews, calling her a “fanatic” and accusing her of showing “contempt for […]

Demonstrations

‘Clash of civilizations’ looms over EU elections Far-right parties are cashing in on decades of campaigning against Islam and migration, as they move to the center ground.

December 1, 2023 and   

(Politico) Geert Wilders may be just the tip of the iceberg. Following the anti-Islam politician’s shock election win in the Netherlands, European elites are nervously scanning the political landscape for signs of what’s to come — including further surprise wins from far-right […]

Arts & Entertainment

Musician who survived 2015 ISIS attack in Paris sends support to Israel Jesse Hughes, lead singer of the band Eagles of Death Metal, sends a special video in which he express[es] his support and says he knows 'what type of evil we’re up against'

November 16, 2023   

(Ynet) American musician Jesse Hughes, lead singer of the band Eagles of Death Metal, who survived the terrorist attack at the Bataclan Theater in Paris in 2015, sent a video expressing his support to a special solidarity event that took place earlier […]

Demonstrations

French Jews worry Muslim unrest could see Macron flip on Israel, putting them at risk Reversing his stated support for Israel, the president demanded an end to ‘killing babies,’ triggering fears that he’s bowing to local pressures and thus inciting antisemitism

November 14, 2023   

(Times of Israel) On a solidarity visit to Israel last month, French President Emmanuel Macron vowed to stand by Israel for the duration of its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. “I want to assure you that you will not be […]