Federica Mogherini’s remarks at “Call to Europe V: Islam in Europe” conference
June 24th, 2015
Let me begin by thanking Massimo D'Alema for organising this conference and for inviting me. As I told him while entering this room, this conference shows we are finally approaching the question of Islam and Europe from the right perspective, after years – or decades – of misunderstandings.
I will start with an anecdote. I graduated two years before 9/11 and it was hard at that time to find a professor who would accept that political Islam could be the subject for a dissertation in political science. Italy has a great university system, but I had to go to France with the Erasmus programme to find someone who would consider Islam as a topic not for history, or literature, or cultural studies thesis, but for political science.
A lot has changed since then. In the following years the idea of a clash between Islam and “the West” – a word in which everything is put together and confused – has misled our policies and our narratives. Islam holds a place in our Western societies. Islam belongs in Europe. It holds a place in Europe's history, in our culture, in our food and – what matters most – in Europe's present and future. Like it or not, this is the reality.
As Europeans, we should be proud of our diversity. The fear of diversity comes from weakness, not from a strong culture.
I shall be even more clear on that: the very idea of a clash of civilisations is at odds with the most basic values of our European Union – let alone with reality. Throughout our European history, many have tried to unify our continent by imposing their own power, their own ideology, their own identity against the identity of someone else. With the European project, after World War II, not only we accepted diversity: we expressed a desire for diversity to be a core feature of our Union. We defined our civilisation through openness and plurality: a mind-set based on blocs does not belong to us.
Some people are now trying to convince us that a Muslim cannot be a good European citizen, that more Muslims in Europe will be the end of Europe. These people are not just mistaken about Muslims: these people are mistaken about Europe – that is my core message – they have no clue what Europe and the European identity are.
This is our common fight: to make this concept accepted both in Europe and beyond Europe.
For Europe and Islam face some common challenges in today’s world. The so-called Islamic State is putting forward an unprecedented attempt to pervert Islam for justifying a wicked political and strategic project.
More...
http://eeas.europa.eu/statements-eeas/d ... sdeliv.pdf
ISLAM IN EUROPE
Angela Merkel Calls for Ban on Full-Face Veils in Germany
ESSEN, Germany — To loud applause, Chancellor Angela Merkel told her party members on Tuesday that Germany should ban full-face veils “wherever legally possible” and that it would not tolerate any application of Shariah law over German justice.
Accepting her party’s nomination as its candidate for another four-year term, the chancellor used the moment to broaden her stance on banning the veil, trying to deflect challenges from far-right forces that have made some of their deepest gains since World War II.
In welcoming nearly one million asylum seekers to Germany a year ago, Ms. Merkel emerged as a powerful voice for tolerance across a Europe gripped by anxiety over waves of arriving migrants and fears of terrorism.
Now, as anti-immigrant parties have advanced at the expense of mainstream parties, including her own, Ms. Merkel tried a tricky balancing act between holding fast to Western values and tilting farther right to avoid being outflanked by populist challengers.
In the 80-minute speech, she repeated the same catalog of beliefs in freedom and equal treatment she had made as an implicit criticism of President-elect Donald J. Trump, but also stiffened her position on the veil and suggested that Germany would be more cautious in welcoming migrants in the future.
In a clear nod to criticism that the state had appeared to lose control over its borders, the chancellor opened her speech to the annual conference of her Christian Democratic Union with a promise that such a situation “cannot, may not and should not be repeated.”
But the biggest applause lines concerned law and order, including a promise that Shariah law would never replace German justice — a problem that has barely arisen but has been cast as a specter by the far-right party Alternative for Germany.
More..
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/06/world ... d=45305309
ESSEN, Germany — To loud applause, Chancellor Angela Merkel told her party members on Tuesday that Germany should ban full-face veils “wherever legally possible” and that it would not tolerate any application of Shariah law over German justice.
Accepting her party’s nomination as its candidate for another four-year term, the chancellor used the moment to broaden her stance on banning the veil, trying to deflect challenges from far-right forces that have made some of their deepest gains since World War II.
In welcoming nearly one million asylum seekers to Germany a year ago, Ms. Merkel emerged as a powerful voice for tolerance across a Europe gripped by anxiety over waves of arriving migrants and fears of terrorism.
Now, as anti-immigrant parties have advanced at the expense of mainstream parties, including her own, Ms. Merkel tried a tricky balancing act between holding fast to Western values and tilting farther right to avoid being outflanked by populist challengers.
In the 80-minute speech, she repeated the same catalog of beliefs in freedom and equal treatment she had made as an implicit criticism of President-elect Donald J. Trump, but also stiffened her position on the veil and suggested that Germany would be more cautious in welcoming migrants in the future.
In a clear nod to criticism that the state had appeared to lose control over its borders, the chancellor opened her speech to the annual conference of her Christian Democratic Union with a promise that such a situation “cannot, may not and should not be repeated.”
But the biggest applause lines concerned law and order, including a promise that Shariah law would never replace German justice — a problem that has barely arisen but has been cast as a specter by the far-right party Alternative for Germany.
More..
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/06/world ... d=45305309
Why Islam Gets Second-Class Status in Germany
Extract:
To enjoy this privileged status, religious communities must have a defined set of beliefs, their members must be recorded, and they must have historical and social significance. The Catholic, Protestant and Jewish religious communities are organized as public institutions; in the state of Berlin, Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Mormon Church are as well.
It might seem as if Islam, with 4.3 million adherents in Germany, would have qualified easily. But so far, the German government has resisted including it.
The reason is both simple and complex: Muslim communities are separated along ethnic lines as well as along denominational lines among Sunnis, Shiites and Alawites. Often there is little unity among these groups, hence they fail the most important state criterion: a unified religious body with shared goals and doctrines.
More...
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/15/opini ... &te=1&_r=0
Extract:
To enjoy this privileged status, religious communities must have a defined set of beliefs, their members must be recorded, and they must have historical and social significance. The Catholic, Protestant and Jewish religious communities are organized as public institutions; in the state of Berlin, Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Mormon Church are as well.
It might seem as if Islam, with 4.3 million adherents in Germany, would have qualified easily. But so far, the German government has resisted including it.
The reason is both simple and complex: Muslim communities are separated along ethnic lines as well as along denominational lines among Sunnis, Shiites and Alawites. Often there is little unity among these groups, hence they fail the most important state criterion: a unified religious body with shared goals and doctrines.
More...
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/15/opini ... &te=1&_r=0
The meaning of a European court verdict on Muslim girls and school swimming lessons
AZIZ OSMANOGLU and his wife Sehabat Kocabas were both born in Turkey around 40 years ago, but they are long-standing residents of the city of Basel. Mr Osmanoglu migrated to Switzerland at the age of 10, but later moved back to pursue advanced Islamic studies in his homeland, where he met his spouse. Eventually, he brought her to Basel.
For many years, the couple has been in dispute with the local authorities over whether or not their two older daughters, born in 1999 and 2001, should have been obliged to take part in mixed swimming along with the other boys and girls when they were at primary school. In 2010 they were obliged to pay 1400 Swiss Francs (about as many American dollars) as a penalty for keeping their daughters away from sessions at the pool.
This week, the European Court of Human Rights gave its verdict on the case. It upheld the right of the regional authorities of Basel to impose the fine, vindicating the view of the Swiss government. Any infringement of the family's religious freedom was over-ridden by the authorities’ right and duty to provide children with basic education, the judges found. This included imparting the ability not only to swim but to live together in a cohesive society. As the verdict noted, “in the [Swiss] government’s view, if it was only a question of learning to swim, compulsory lessons would stop as soon as all pupils were able to swim...[But] the very fact of engaging in this activity together with other pupils is an important element of the course...”
More...
http://www.economist.com/blogs/erasmus/ ... n/NA/email
AZIZ OSMANOGLU and his wife Sehabat Kocabas were both born in Turkey around 40 years ago, but they are long-standing residents of the city of Basel. Mr Osmanoglu migrated to Switzerland at the age of 10, but later moved back to pursue advanced Islamic studies in his homeland, where he met his spouse. Eventually, he brought her to Basel.
For many years, the couple has been in dispute with the local authorities over whether or not their two older daughters, born in 1999 and 2001, should have been obliged to take part in mixed swimming along with the other boys and girls when they were at primary school. In 2010 they were obliged to pay 1400 Swiss Francs (about as many American dollars) as a penalty for keeping their daughters away from sessions at the pool.
This week, the European Court of Human Rights gave its verdict on the case. It upheld the right of the regional authorities of Basel to impose the fine, vindicating the view of the Swiss government. Any infringement of the family's religious freedom was over-ridden by the authorities’ right and duty to provide children with basic education, the judges found. This included imparting the ability not only to swim but to live together in a cohesive society. As the verdict noted, “in the [Swiss] government’s view, if it was only a question of learning to swim, compulsory lessons would stop as soon as all pupils were able to swim...[But] the very fact of engaging in this activity together with other pupils is an important element of the course...”
More...
http://www.economist.com/blogs/erasmus/ ... n/NA/email
'Behave normally or go away'; Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte says integrate or leave
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte sought to lure voters away from anti-immigration lawmaker Geert Wilders, as campaigning for the March 15 national elections heated up on Monday.
In a full-page newspaper message, Rutte said “we have to actively defend our values” against people who refuse to integrate or act antisocially. “Behave normally or go away.”
While Rutte’s message did not mention Wilders or his Party for Freedom, it was clearly aimed at winning over voters who would likely back Wilders’ hard-line platform.
Rutte, leader of the centre-right People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy, said he understands calls for people who don’t integrate to leave the Netherlands. “I have that feeling, too,” he said.
But he also appeared to criticize Wilders’ anti-immigration stance. “The solution is not to tar people with the same brush,” Rutte said. A court convicted Wilders in December of insulting and inciting discrimination against Moroccans. He is appealing the conviction, which he branded “shameful.”
On Monday, Wilders hit back and called Rutte “the man of open borders, the asylum tsunami, mass immigration, Islamization, lies and deception.”
Polls give Wilders an edge on Rutte at the moment. But mainstream parties shun Wilders and it appears unlikely he will be able to form a coalition even if he wins the popular vote.
Rutte’s coalition has steered the Netherlands to a strong recovery from the financial crisis that swept Europe, but his party’s popularity has slipped as Wilders’ has grown.
Wilders joined right-wing populist leaders from France, Germany, Italy and elsewhere on Saturday at a meeting in Germany ahead of elections this year that could see major gains for nationalist parties.
“I believe we are witnessing historic times,” Wilders said, the day after U.S. President Donald Trump’s inauguration.
http://m.torontosun.com/2017/01/23/beha ... e-or-leave
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte sought to lure voters away from anti-immigration lawmaker Geert Wilders, as campaigning for the March 15 national elections heated up on Monday.
In a full-page newspaper message, Rutte said “we have to actively defend our values” against people who refuse to integrate or act antisocially. “Behave normally or go away.”
While Rutte’s message did not mention Wilders or his Party for Freedom, it was clearly aimed at winning over voters who would likely back Wilders’ hard-line platform.
Rutte, leader of the centre-right People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy, said he understands calls for people who don’t integrate to leave the Netherlands. “I have that feeling, too,” he said.
But he also appeared to criticize Wilders’ anti-immigration stance. “The solution is not to tar people with the same brush,” Rutte said. A court convicted Wilders in December of insulting and inciting discrimination against Moroccans. He is appealing the conviction, which he branded “shameful.”
On Monday, Wilders hit back and called Rutte “the man of open borders, the asylum tsunami, mass immigration, Islamization, lies and deception.”
Polls give Wilders an edge on Rutte at the moment. But mainstream parties shun Wilders and it appears unlikely he will be able to form a coalition even if he wins the popular vote.
Rutte’s coalition has steered the Netherlands to a strong recovery from the financial crisis that swept Europe, but his party’s popularity has slipped as Wilders’ has grown.
Wilders joined right-wing populist leaders from France, Germany, Italy and elsewhere on Saturday at a meeting in Germany ahead of elections this year that could see major gains for nationalist parties.
“I believe we are witnessing historic times,” Wilders said, the day after U.S. President Donald Trump’s inauguration.
http://m.torontosun.com/2017/01/23/beha ... e-or-leave
Holland: Politician Geert Wilders uses gay rights as weapon in nationalist anti-Muslim campaign
BuzzFeed’s Lester Feder, Kim Deen and Addie Schulte profile Geert Wilders, the Dutch politician who in their words turned gay rights into a weapon in a war against Muslims. Wilders was a featured speaker, along with Breitbart’s Milo Yiannopoulos, at an anti-Muslim “Gays for Trump” party held in Cleveland last summer during the Republican National Convention. Wilders hopes to be the next prime minister; elections are set for March 15:
"The race has been dominated by Geert Wilders, the bleached-blonde leader of the Party for Freedom who polls show could win the largest bloc of votes in parliament. His candidacy is being watched as the next test of the nationalist wave that drove Britain out of the EU and put Donald Trump in the White House.
But the race is also uniquely focused on gay rights, because Wilders has framed his crusade against Islam in part as a defense of national values in the country proud to have adopted the world’s first marriage equality law and has remained a leader on LGBT rights in the years since. And several more moderate politicians have echoed the message that Muslim immigrants threaten gay people…
Wilders’ professed support of gay rights once put him out of step with other nationalist politicians in the West, who generally have also been social conservatives. But today Wilders seems like he was just ahead of his time, with politicians from Donald Trump to France’s Marine Le Pen following his lead and saying they are defending LGBT rights by opposing Muslim immigration.
For many in the room, this is just racism dressed up in liberal drag, helping make nationalism respectable again in the West."
More..
http://religiondispatches.org/anti-tran ... 5-84570085
BuzzFeed’s Lester Feder, Kim Deen and Addie Schulte profile Geert Wilders, the Dutch politician who in their words turned gay rights into a weapon in a war against Muslims. Wilders was a featured speaker, along with Breitbart’s Milo Yiannopoulos, at an anti-Muslim “Gays for Trump” party held in Cleveland last summer during the Republican National Convention. Wilders hopes to be the next prime minister; elections are set for March 15:
"The race has been dominated by Geert Wilders, the bleached-blonde leader of the Party for Freedom who polls show could win the largest bloc of votes in parliament. His candidacy is being watched as the next test of the nationalist wave that drove Britain out of the EU and put Donald Trump in the White House.
But the race is also uniquely focused on gay rights, because Wilders has framed his crusade against Islam in part as a defense of national values in the country proud to have adopted the world’s first marriage equality law and has remained a leader on LGBT rights in the years since. And several more moderate politicians have echoed the message that Muslim immigrants threaten gay people…
Wilders’ professed support of gay rights once put him out of step with other nationalist politicians in the West, who generally have also been social conservatives. But today Wilders seems like he was just ahead of his time, with politicians from Donald Trump to France’s Marine Le Pen following his lead and saying they are defending LGBT rights by opposing Muslim immigration.
For many in the room, this is just racism dressed up in liberal drag, helping make nationalism respectable again in the West."
More..
http://religiondispatches.org/anti-tran ... 5-84570085
BOOK
The Ismaili Community & Constructions of Islam & Modernity in Germany Paperback – Oct 11 2016
by Linda Hewitt (Author)
This study examines Ismaʿili individuals’ “lived religion” through personal views on religious values combined with daily practices in German society. Since a Eurocentric view on Islam often fails to recognize the complexities of Muslim communities while emphasizing the Muslim faith as incompatible with “modernity”, the current study of the Ismaʿili branch serves as an example of Muslim practices that adapt and adjust its divine principles to a modern and secular society while maintaining its unique religious identity. Important values of everyday life are observed in connection to Ulrich Beck’s and Anthony Giddens’ “reflexive modernity” theory as a process that encompasses old and new traditions while adapting ambiguous and pluralist forms of contemporary societies.
https://www.amazon.ca/Ismaili-Community ... ds=ismaili
The Ismaili Community & Constructions of Islam & Modernity in Germany Paperback – Oct 11 2016
by Linda Hewitt (Author)
This study examines Ismaʿili individuals’ “lived religion” through personal views on religious values combined with daily practices in German society. Since a Eurocentric view on Islam often fails to recognize the complexities of Muslim communities while emphasizing the Muslim faith as incompatible with “modernity”, the current study of the Ismaʿili branch serves as an example of Muslim practices that adapt and adjust its divine principles to a modern and secular society while maintaining its unique religious identity. Important values of everyday life are observed in connection to Ulrich Beck’s and Anthony Giddens’ “reflexive modernity” theory as a process that encompasses old and new traditions while adapting ambiguous and pluralist forms of contemporary societies.
https://www.amazon.ca/Ismaili-Community ... ds=ismaili
Netherlands Considers a New Relationship to Muslims With Coming Election
ROTTERDAM, the Netherlands — Like many Muslims, Ahmed Aboutaleb has been disturbed by the angry tenor of the Dutch election campaign. Far-right candidates have disparaged Islam, often depicting Muslims as outsiders unwilling to integrate into Dutch culture.
It is especially jarring for Mr. Aboutaleb, given that he is the mayor of Rotterdam, a fluent Dutch speaker and one of the country’s most popular politicians. Nor is he alone: The speaker of the Dutch Parliament is Muslim. The Netherlands also has Muslim social workers, journalists, comedians, entrepreneurs and bankers.
“There’s a feeling that if there are too many cultural influences from other parts of the world, then what does that mean for our Dutch traditions and culture?” said Mr. Aboutaleb, whose city, the Netherland’s second largest, is 15 percent to 20 percent Muslim and home to immigrants from 174 countries.
Wednesday’s elections will begin Europe’s year of political reckoning. The Dutch race, coming ahead of others in France, Germany and possibly Italy, will be the first test of Europe’s threshold for tolerance as populist parties rise by attacking the European Union and immigration, making nationalistic calls to preserve distinct local cultures.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/13/worl ... d=45305309[/b]
ROTTERDAM, the Netherlands — Like many Muslims, Ahmed Aboutaleb has been disturbed by the angry tenor of the Dutch election campaign. Far-right candidates have disparaged Islam, often depicting Muslims as outsiders unwilling to integrate into Dutch culture.
It is especially jarring for Mr. Aboutaleb, given that he is the mayor of Rotterdam, a fluent Dutch speaker and one of the country’s most popular politicians. Nor is he alone: The speaker of the Dutch Parliament is Muslim. The Netherlands also has Muslim social workers, journalists, comedians, entrepreneurs and bankers.
“There’s a feeling that if there are too many cultural influences from other parts of the world, then what does that mean for our Dutch traditions and culture?” said Mr. Aboutaleb, whose city, the Netherland’s second largest, is 15 percent to 20 percent Muslim and home to immigrants from 174 countries.
Wednesday’s elections will begin Europe’s year of political reckoning. The Dutch race, coming ahead of others in France, Germany and possibly Italy, will be the first test of Europe’s threshold for tolerance as populist parties rise by attacking the European Union and immigration, making nationalistic calls to preserve distinct local cultures.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/13/worl ... d=45305309[/b]
Germany will become Islamic State, says Merkel
Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Germans have failed to grasp how Muslim immigration has transformed their country and will have to come to terms with more mosques than churches throughout the countryside, according to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung daily.
“Our country is going to carry on changing, and integration is also a task for the society taking up the task of dealing with immigrants,” Ms. Merkel told the daily newspaper. “For years we’ve been deceiving ourselves about this. Mosques, for example, are going to be a more prominent part of our cities than they were before.”
Germany, with a population of 4-5 million Muslims, has been divided in recent weeks by a debate over remarks by the Bundesbank’s Thilo Sarrazin, who argued Turkish and Arab immigrants were failing to integrate and were swamping Germany with a higher birth rate.
The Chancellor’s remarks represent the first official acknowledgement that Germany, like other European countries, is destined to become a stronghold of Islam. She has admitted that the country will soon become a stronghold.
In France, 30% of children age 20 years and below are Muslims. The ratio in Paris and Marseille has soared to 45%. In southern France, there are more mosques than churches.
http://spinzon.com/muslim-immigration-h ... ir-countr/
Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Germans have failed to grasp how Muslim immigration has transformed their country and will have to come to terms with more mosques than churches throughout the countryside, according to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung daily.
“Our country is going to carry on changing, and integration is also a task for the society taking up the task of dealing with immigrants,” Ms. Merkel told the daily newspaper. “For years we’ve been deceiving ourselves about this. Mosques, for example, are going to be a more prominent part of our cities than they were before.”
Germany, with a population of 4-5 million Muslims, has been divided in recent weeks by a debate over remarks by the Bundesbank’s Thilo Sarrazin, who argued Turkish and Arab immigrants were failing to integrate and were swamping Germany with a higher birth rate.
The Chancellor’s remarks represent the first official acknowledgement that Germany, like other European countries, is destined to become a stronghold of Islam. She has admitted that the country will soon become a stronghold.
In France, 30% of children age 20 years and below are Muslims. The ratio in Paris and Marseille has soared to 45%. In southern France, there are more mosques than churches.
http://spinzon.com/muslim-immigration-h ... ir-countr/
An Attack on Muslims Shakes Cosmopolitan London
LONDON — Like many of London’s Muslims, Mohammed Abdullah grew tired of defending himself, and his religion, after Islamist terrorists carried out two attacks in the city and another in Manchester during the past three months. Hostile glances followed him on the street, and rising fury greeted him on social media.
Then came last week’s devastating fire at Grenfell Tower, a citywide tragedy that killed at least 79 people inside the 24-story tower, including many Muslims. “Good riddance,” one far-right forum commented.
But early Monday, a white British man rammed a rental van into a congregation of Muslims leaving prayers during Ramadan, the holiest month on the Muslim calendar. One person was killed and at least 10 were injured.
“It feels like you’re under siege,” said Mr. Abdullah, 23, a law student standing outside Finsbury Park Mosque in North London on Monday morning hours after the attack. “I wonder,” he said, “is anyone going to write about a ‘white Christian terrorist’ this time round?”
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/19/worl ... d=71987722
LONDON — Like many of London’s Muslims, Mohammed Abdullah grew tired of defending himself, and his religion, after Islamist terrorists carried out two attacks in the city and another in Manchester during the past three months. Hostile glances followed him on the street, and rising fury greeted him on social media.
Then came last week’s devastating fire at Grenfell Tower, a citywide tragedy that killed at least 79 people inside the 24-story tower, including many Muslims. “Good riddance,” one far-right forum commented.
But early Monday, a white British man rammed a rental van into a congregation of Muslims leaving prayers during Ramadan, the holiest month on the Muslim calendar. One person was killed and at least 10 were injured.
“It feels like you’re under siege,” said Mr. Abdullah, 23, a law student standing outside Finsbury Park Mosque in North London on Monday morning hours after the attack. “I wonder,” he said, “is anyone going to write about a ‘white Christian terrorist’ this time round?”
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/19/worl ... d=71987722
Speaking up for Britain’s unseen, unheard Muslims
Finsbury Park Mosque used to be a fixture on the front pages and bulletin headlines a few years back. The Today programme on BBC Radio 4 generously provided a pulpit for Abu Hamza, the ranting, zealous self-proclaimed imam of that mosque. He was a reel identikit baddie, portly, hateful, with one burning eye and a hooked hand. After he was extradited to the USA (for reasons still unclear) the mosque once again became a quiet place of worship. No more noise, drama, sinister plots or propaganda. The media and public were no longer interested.
Then, after midnight on June 19 a van was driven into worshippers close to Muslim Welfare House, near the Mosque. One person was killed, others injured, some seriously. Finsbury Park Muslims were back in the news. But in a ‘good’ way this time. They were victims of what seemed to be a hate crime.
The Imam, Mohammed Mahmoud, protected the van driver from mob revenge. He is British-Egyptian, a London lad who loves to cook biriyani. He has transformed the mosque, made it a safe and calm place for quiet believers. The nation was in shock. Can there really be such well-adjusted British Muslims? How many? Why do we not see or hear them? Yes there are, hundreds of thousands of us. Maybe it is time more was known about the unseen, unheard, largely contented and well-integrated European Muslims.
Mahmoud, like Sayeeda Warsi, mayor Sadiq Khan, Lord Ahmed, BBC presenter Mishal Hussein, Sky political editor Faisal Islam, Muslim volunteers and charity workers, countless others, are good Muslims and good Britons. They are not conflicted, not consumed by anti-Muslim racism. Time on earth is precious and they use it well.
Several Muslim organisations across the UK and mainland Europe are promoting democracy, secularism, human rights, gender and gay equality and mutual respect.
Such individuals and collectives challenge inveterate pessimists such as the neo-con Douglas Murray or the French intellectual Michel Houellebecq who believe in an inevitable clash of civilizations.
My own Shia community, the Ismailis, are guided by the Aga Khan, an enlightened, savvy, internationalist, well connected leader, respected by royals, presidents and prime ministers. His lineage goes back to the Prophet’s daughter Fatima and son in law, Ali. This July we celebrate the diamond jubilee of this remarkable Imam, who funds schools, hospitals, development programmes, universities, architectural masterpieces around the globe.
More...
http://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/top-sto ... -1-5088574
Finsbury Park Mosque used to be a fixture on the front pages and bulletin headlines a few years back. The Today programme on BBC Radio 4 generously provided a pulpit for Abu Hamza, the ranting, zealous self-proclaimed imam of that mosque. He was a reel identikit baddie, portly, hateful, with one burning eye and a hooked hand. After he was extradited to the USA (for reasons still unclear) the mosque once again became a quiet place of worship. No more noise, drama, sinister plots or propaganda. The media and public were no longer interested.
Then, after midnight on June 19 a van was driven into worshippers close to Muslim Welfare House, near the Mosque. One person was killed, others injured, some seriously. Finsbury Park Muslims were back in the news. But in a ‘good’ way this time. They were victims of what seemed to be a hate crime.
The Imam, Mohammed Mahmoud, protected the van driver from mob revenge. He is British-Egyptian, a London lad who loves to cook biriyani. He has transformed the mosque, made it a safe and calm place for quiet believers. The nation was in shock. Can there really be such well-adjusted British Muslims? How many? Why do we not see or hear them? Yes there are, hundreds of thousands of us. Maybe it is time more was known about the unseen, unheard, largely contented and well-integrated European Muslims.
Mahmoud, like Sayeeda Warsi, mayor Sadiq Khan, Lord Ahmed, BBC presenter Mishal Hussein, Sky political editor Faisal Islam, Muslim volunteers and charity workers, countless others, are good Muslims and good Britons. They are not conflicted, not consumed by anti-Muslim racism. Time on earth is precious and they use it well.
Several Muslim organisations across the UK and mainland Europe are promoting democracy, secularism, human rights, gender and gay equality and mutual respect.
Such individuals and collectives challenge inveterate pessimists such as the neo-con Douglas Murray or the French intellectual Michel Houellebecq who believe in an inevitable clash of civilizations.
My own Shia community, the Ismailis, are guided by the Aga Khan, an enlightened, savvy, internationalist, well connected leader, respected by royals, presidents and prime ministers. His lineage goes back to the Prophet’s daughter Fatima and son in law, Ali. This July we celebrate the diamond jubilee of this remarkable Imam, who funds schools, hospitals, development programmes, universities, architectural masterpieces around the globe.
More...
http://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/top-sto ... -1-5088574
Attitudes to Islam in Europe are hardening
But Muslims are making some social progress
IF integration means doing a bit better in education and the job market, then there are grounds to be optimistic about the status of Muslim communities across western Europe. But when you ask Europeans how they feel about Islam and its adherents, then the picture is much harsher and in some ways getting worse.
Those are the broad impressions left by a raft of recently published surveys on the subject. The authors of a study by Germany’s Bertelsmann Foundation, focusing mainly on Britain, France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria, found some encouraging indicators on schooling and employment but still reported a big income disparity between Muslims and non-Muslims.
Professional progress was “not accompanied by an equal level of…social acceptance,” noted the report, which looked not at refugees but longer-standing Muslim residents. The authors were troubled by the finding that 20% of respondents did not want Muslim neighbours. That number would almost certainly have been higher if the study had looked at countries further south and east. A poll by Pew Research, an American think-tank, found that a majority of people in Hungary, Italy, Poland, Greece and Spain harboured hostile attitudes to Islam while only a minority of northwestern Europeans held similar views.
The Bertelsmann report welcomed the fact that in France, only one in ten Muslims leaves school before turning 17, compared with about a third of Muslim youngsters in Germany. But learning doesn’t seem to guarantee earning. In neither Germany nor Switzerland was there much difference between the employment rate of Muslims and non-Muslims. In France, by contrast, the jobless rate was 14% for Muslims compared with 8% for non-Muslims.
Moreover, there are some clear signs of hardening attitudes. In England, around four people in ten acknowledged that they have become more suspicious of Muslims following terrorist attacks in London and Manchester. That was one of the findings of the latest study published by Hope Not Hate, an anti-extremism lobby group.
Looking at a series of recent data, it concluded that in many ways sentiment in England was gradually becoming more liberal and tolerant of diversity, but Islam and the reactions it inspired were a clear exception. About half the population apparently thought Islam posed a “threat to Western civilisation” while a quarter regarded it as a “dangerous” religion because of its perceived capacity to incite violence. The picture changes depending on how the question is framed. The pool of respondents who opined (50% versus 22%) that the Muslim faith was a civilisational threat also agreed by a clear majority that it was wrong to blame an entire religion for a few extremists.
In Germany, a widely-quoted poll last year found that more than half the population believed that Islam did not belong in their country. But attitudes to Muslim people, as opposed to their religion, can sometimes be much more emollient, albeit varying a lot with the respondent’s political ideology.
Pew found that half the Germans who hewed to the political left thought Muslims were making a good effort to adapt to the country’s way of life, compared with one in five of those who leaned rightwards. The numbers for Britons of right and left were almost exactly the same. Given the many different ways in which progress (or regress) can be measured, the state of Islam in Europe may always be a vessel that some see as half-empty and others see as half-full.
What's worrying is that almost every terrorist movement aims to polarise feelings in a way that drives people into opposing camps. The terrorist who claims to represent a certain community often hopes that the authorities, and perhaps society as whole, will stigmatise that community and provoke in it a defensive mood, so that violence starts to seem like a reasonable option. Historically, such polarising tactics have often worked.
Although things have not yet reached that point, these poll results suggest something sinister: it’s perfectly conceivable that the murderous van-drivers and knife-wielders who claim to speak for Muslims in Europe could enjoy a similar “success” in polarising sentiment across the continent.
https://www.economist.com/blogs/erasmus ... lydispatch
But Muslims are making some social progress
IF integration means doing a bit better in education and the job market, then there are grounds to be optimistic about the status of Muslim communities across western Europe. But when you ask Europeans how they feel about Islam and its adherents, then the picture is much harsher and in some ways getting worse.
Those are the broad impressions left by a raft of recently published surveys on the subject. The authors of a study by Germany’s Bertelsmann Foundation, focusing mainly on Britain, France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria, found some encouraging indicators on schooling and employment but still reported a big income disparity between Muslims and non-Muslims.
Professional progress was “not accompanied by an equal level of…social acceptance,” noted the report, which looked not at refugees but longer-standing Muslim residents. The authors were troubled by the finding that 20% of respondents did not want Muslim neighbours. That number would almost certainly have been higher if the study had looked at countries further south and east. A poll by Pew Research, an American think-tank, found that a majority of people in Hungary, Italy, Poland, Greece and Spain harboured hostile attitudes to Islam while only a minority of northwestern Europeans held similar views.
The Bertelsmann report welcomed the fact that in France, only one in ten Muslims leaves school before turning 17, compared with about a third of Muslim youngsters in Germany. But learning doesn’t seem to guarantee earning. In neither Germany nor Switzerland was there much difference between the employment rate of Muslims and non-Muslims. In France, by contrast, the jobless rate was 14% for Muslims compared with 8% for non-Muslims.
Moreover, there are some clear signs of hardening attitudes. In England, around four people in ten acknowledged that they have become more suspicious of Muslims following terrorist attacks in London and Manchester. That was one of the findings of the latest study published by Hope Not Hate, an anti-extremism lobby group.
Looking at a series of recent data, it concluded that in many ways sentiment in England was gradually becoming more liberal and tolerant of diversity, but Islam and the reactions it inspired were a clear exception. About half the population apparently thought Islam posed a “threat to Western civilisation” while a quarter regarded it as a “dangerous” religion because of its perceived capacity to incite violence. The picture changes depending on how the question is framed. The pool of respondents who opined (50% versus 22%) that the Muslim faith was a civilisational threat also agreed by a clear majority that it was wrong to blame an entire religion for a few extremists.
In Germany, a widely-quoted poll last year found that more than half the population believed that Islam did not belong in their country. But attitudes to Muslim people, as opposed to their religion, can sometimes be much more emollient, albeit varying a lot with the respondent’s political ideology.
Pew found that half the Germans who hewed to the political left thought Muslims were making a good effort to adapt to the country’s way of life, compared with one in five of those who leaned rightwards. The numbers for Britons of right and left were almost exactly the same. Given the many different ways in which progress (or regress) can be measured, the state of Islam in Europe may always be a vessel that some see as half-empty and others see as half-full.
What's worrying is that almost every terrorist movement aims to polarise feelings in a way that drives people into opposing camps. The terrorist who claims to represent a certain community often hopes that the authorities, and perhaps society as whole, will stigmatise that community and provoke in it a defensive mood, so that violence starts to seem like a reasonable option. Historically, such polarising tactics have often worked.
Although things have not yet reached that point, these poll results suggest something sinister: it’s perfectly conceivable that the murderous van-drivers and knife-wielders who claim to speak for Muslims in Europe could enjoy a similar “success” in polarising sentiment across the continent.
https://www.economist.com/blogs/erasmus ... lydispatch
Why did Vikings have 'Allah' embroidered into funeral clothes?
Researchers in Sweden have found Arabic characters woven into burial costumes from Viking boat graves. The discovery raises new questions about the influence of Islam in Scandinavia, writes journalist Tharik Hussain.
They were kept in storage for more than 100 years, dismissed as typical examples of Viking Age funeral clothes.
But a new investigation into the garments - found in 9th and 10th Century graves - has thrown up groundbreaking insights into contact between the Viking and Muslim worlds.
Patterns woven with silk and silver thread have been found to spell the words "Allah" and "Ali".
The breakthrough was made by textile archaeologist Annika Larsson of Uppsala University while re-examining the remnants of burial costumes from male and female boat and chamber graves originally excavated in Birka and Gamla Uppsala in Sweden in the late 19th and mid-20th centuries.
She became interested in the forgotten fragments after realising the material had come from central Asia, Persia and China.
Larsson says the tiny geometric designs - no more than 1.5cm (0.6in) high - resembled nothing she had come across in Scandinavia before.
"I couldn't quite make sense of them and then I remembered where I had seen similar designs - in Spain, on Moorish textiles."
Unlocking a puzzle
More...
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-41567391
Researchers in Sweden have found Arabic characters woven into burial costumes from Viking boat graves. The discovery raises new questions about the influence of Islam in Scandinavia, writes journalist Tharik Hussain.
They were kept in storage for more than 100 years, dismissed as typical examples of Viking Age funeral clothes.
But a new investigation into the garments - found in 9th and 10th Century graves - has thrown up groundbreaking insights into contact between the Viking and Muslim worlds.
Patterns woven with silk and silver thread have been found to spell the words "Allah" and "Ali".
The breakthrough was made by textile archaeologist Annika Larsson of Uppsala University while re-examining the remnants of burial costumes from male and female boat and chamber graves originally excavated in Birka and Gamla Uppsala in Sweden in the late 19th and mid-20th centuries.
She became interested in the forgotten fragments after realising the material had come from central Asia, Persia and China.
Larsson says the tiny geometric designs - no more than 1.5cm (0.6in) high - resembled nothing she had come across in Scandinavia before.
"I couldn't quite make sense of them and then I remembered where I had seen similar designs - in Spain, on Moorish textiles."
Unlocking a puzzle
More...
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-41567391
In Brexit-Era London, a Mosque Sits Between Two Types of Hate
Excerpt:
Few, if any, major Western cities have been more open to Muslims than London. More than 12 percent of Londoners are Muslim. Eighteen months ago, this became the first Western capital to elect a Muslim mayor, a milestone for residents proud of their multicultural ethos.
Now, though, religious hate crimes are up nearly 30 percent, primarily against Muslims. At his mosque, Mr. Siddique is hiring extra security guards to protect his congregants. Muslim women have complained about being spit on, or cursed.
What has brought these tensions to the surface? Brexit and terrorism.
Britain’s unexpected vote in June 2016 to exit the European Union — only a month after London elected Sadiq Khan as mayor — was fueled by a nationwide campaign infused with anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant venom. Then, after a decade without Islamist terrorist attacks, this year Britain has suffered four, including an assault by Islamist terrorists in June that killed eight people at London Bridge and Borough Market.
Even as crowds of Londoners came out to mourn — and to show their commitment to the city’s inclusive spirit — the dynamics of daily life shifted for many mainstream Muslims. Brexit and the terrorist attacks have given bigots license to express hostility, many Muslims say, or to label them all as terrorists, or to tell them to go home — as if London were not their home.
“People feel they have the right to be open about Islamophobia,” said Saima Ashraf, a local council member in Barking and a French-Palestinian immigrant. “Or to be open about their racial views, or just to be a bit more nasty.”
The Brexit vote stunned many Londoners — the city voted heavily to remain in the European Union — but not Mr. Siddique. His borough of Barking and Dagenham was one of the few in London that voted to leave, and it did so by a margin of nearly two to one. Many whites there saw a vote for Brexit as a vote against immigration and Islam.
For years, Al Madina Mosque has sat uncomfortably on a fault line between the Islamist radicalism of the terrorist attacks and the white nativism intertwined with Brexit.
More....
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/09/worl ... 05309&_r=0
Excerpt:
Few, if any, major Western cities have been more open to Muslims than London. More than 12 percent of Londoners are Muslim. Eighteen months ago, this became the first Western capital to elect a Muslim mayor, a milestone for residents proud of their multicultural ethos.
Now, though, religious hate crimes are up nearly 30 percent, primarily against Muslims. At his mosque, Mr. Siddique is hiring extra security guards to protect his congregants. Muslim women have complained about being spit on, or cursed.
What has brought these tensions to the surface? Brexit and terrorism.
Britain’s unexpected vote in June 2016 to exit the European Union — only a month after London elected Sadiq Khan as mayor — was fueled by a nationwide campaign infused with anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant venom. Then, after a decade without Islamist terrorist attacks, this year Britain has suffered four, including an assault by Islamist terrorists in June that killed eight people at London Bridge and Borough Market.
Even as crowds of Londoners came out to mourn — and to show their commitment to the city’s inclusive spirit — the dynamics of daily life shifted for many mainstream Muslims. Brexit and the terrorist attacks have given bigots license to express hostility, many Muslims say, or to label them all as terrorists, or to tell them to go home — as if London were not their home.
“People feel they have the right to be open about Islamophobia,” said Saima Ashraf, a local council member in Barking and a French-Palestinian immigrant. “Or to be open about their racial views, or just to be a bit more nasty.”
The Brexit vote stunned many Londoners — the city voted heavily to remain in the European Union — but not Mr. Siddique. His borough of Barking and Dagenham was one of the few in London that voted to leave, and it did so by a margin of nearly two to one. Many whites there saw a vote for Brexit as a vote against immigration and Islam.
For years, Al Madina Mosque has sat uncomfortably on a fault line between the Islamist radicalism of the terrorist attacks and the white nativism intertwined with Brexit.
More....
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/09/worl ... 05309&_r=0
The forgotten Muslim heroes who fought for Britain in the trenches
The stories of the 2.5 million Muslims who travelled to Europe to fight for the allies during the first world war are finally being told
A biting wind whips across the rolling countryside, cutting through the crowd gathered on a hillside overlooking Notre Dame de Lorette, France’s national war cemetery. Huddled amid what remains of the 440 miles of trenches that made up the western front, they shudder out of shock and surprise rather than cold while listening about life for the men who endured the horrors of the first world war.
More than 1.5 billion artillery shells fell in this part of northern France, close to the town of Arras, prompting soldiers to nickname the farmland in which they fought “the hell of the north”, or poignantly, “the cemetery”. It is the experiences of some of their Muslim comrades, however, that particularly capture the crowd’s imagination, drawing looks of disbelief at a history that has never been fully told.
Having travelled thousands of miles from hotter climes, these soldiers went into the trenches with imams whose duties included leading group prayers and reciting the call to prayer into the ears of the dying. Special orders had been issued on when and how to pray. “If the war is intense and the Muslim does not have a moment of peace to fulfil his prayer he can just move his head and torso,” said a declaration from French high command. “In the case where there are moments of calm, one can complete the prayer together.”
Hot halal food was routinely served, prepared by cooks who had accompanied the men. When medical supplies ran out, some of these soldiers used traditional herbal medicines from their homelands to help treat injured comrades, whatever their faith. Others taught their folk songs to those serving alongside them, whatever their language, in between the brutal onslaughts of trench warfare.
The evidence of their sacrifice is on display in a corner of Notre Dame de Lorette, which contains the graves of 40,000 French soldiers who fell on the western front. The Muslim headstones are distinguishable not just by their Islamic inscriptions but because they also tilt eastwards towards Mecca. They were designed by the French painter Etienne Dinet, who converted to Islam in 1908.
The crowd of mainly British Muslims, who were at Notre Dame de Lorette before this weekend’s Armistice Day commemorations, ended their visit by praying over the graves of the north African soldiers who shared their faith. Their visit formed part of a groundbreaking project by an organisation called the Forgotten Heroes 14-19 Foundation, which has, for the first time, documented the contribution of all the Muslims who fought and worked for the allied forces during the first world war. The 19 in its name refers to the conflict that was caused by the French military presence in Syria in 1919 after the first world war ended.
Researchers have spent the past six years delving into military, diplomatic and private archives, including diaries and letters, across 19 countries, accessing more than 850,000 documents in French, English, Farsi, Urdu, Russian, German and Arabic, as well as hundreds of images. They estimate that 2.5 million Muslims contributed to the allied cause either as soldiers or labourers, the first time such a figure has been established.
The foundation was founded by a Belgian, Luc Ferrier, 53, after he came across his great-grandfather’s first world war diaries in his attic in which he wrote extensively about the “Mohammedans” he encountered in the trenches. Gripped by fascination, Ferrier delved into the history books to learn more, but found that there was little information available.
He began conducting his own research, initially through Belgian and French war records, and realised there was a bigger story to tell. In fact, he became so engrossed by it that he gave up his job in the aeronautical industry to establish the foundation in 2012 and devote his life to documenting the role of all Muslims involved in the war.
Muslims are portrayed as the enemy within, but we can show that they sacrificed their lives for a free Europe
They were drawn from across Africa, India, the far and middle east, Russia and even America, but it is their heart-touching stories of living and dying alongside European Christian or Jewish counterparts that have resonated the most with Ferrier and his team. Knowing this history, they say, could help overcome some problems in the Europe of today.
Documents uncovered have shown instances of imams, priests and rabbis learning each other’s burial ceremonies and prayers to lay the dead to rest on the battlefront. There are reports of Muslim soldiers sharing food with hungry civilians, while French, Belgian and Canadian officers expressed surprise at their humane treatment of German prisoners of war. When asked to explain their conduct, the soldiers quoted the Quran and the teachings of Muhammad on how enemy combatants should be dealt with.
Ferrier, who is not a Muslim, said: “The far-right and Islamophobia is on the rise throughout Europe. Our project is about making all people across the continent understand that we have a shared history. This is not about politics or colonialism. We are simply presenting the facts because this is a story that the whole of Europe needs to know.
“Muslims are portrayed as the enemy within, that they are recent arrivals who have never made a valuable contribution to Europe. But we can show that they have sacrificed their lives for a free Europe, have helped to make it what it is and that they have a right to be here.”
Central to the foundation’s ethos is spreading knowledge of its findings to young Britons and Europeans in particular, with the aim that this will help future generations better understand the Muslim communities living among them. The battlefield tours, entitled The Muslim Experience in World War One, are organised in partnership with Anglia Tours, a company that specialises in battlefield visits for British schoolchildren.
In addition to visiting the trenches, memorials and graves, and hearing the human stories behind them, the tour also includes a visit to the El Badr mosque in Amiens for a presentation on the foundation’s research, followed by a traditional north-African meal. Non-Muslim visitors are also encouraged to witness evening prayers.
Yusuf Chambers of the Muslim Heritage Trust, which works with the foundation in Britain, said: “We are trying to build bridges and what better way to do this than by sharing a meal and socialising together?
“Our work is focused on all communities and ages but particularly the young. We want people to know about this history because we want every British and European child to say that Muslims were heroes of the first world war too.”
The foundation’s work has already caught the eye of first world war experts. Last month, Ferrier addressed historians at Harvard University and he has also presented a paper to the UN. Plans are under way for a book next year that will contain extracts of the documents and images that have been uncovered, and an exhibition is to tour Europe. As the research continues, he estimates that the current figure of 2.5 million Muslims helping the allies during the first world war could increase.
For those visitors who attended last week’s inaugural tour, what proved particularly powerful was hearing letters read out from Muslim soldiers to their families in which they shared their fears and faith. One from an Algerian soldier stationed in the trenches around Notre Dame de Lorette in 1916 read: “I swear by God and by that which we hold sacred, I will never stop saying my prayers, I will never abandon my faith even if I am assailed by ordeals more terrible than those in which I find myself in.”
Visitor Tayaba Shaukat, aged 25 from west London, said: “It’s when you hear these personal testimonies that you really understand what these men went through. The experience of European soldiers in the first world war has been well documented by poets and other writers, but we don’t know anything about the lives of the Muslim and other colonial soldiers and this has to change.”
MUSLIM COMRADES
More...
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/ ... -world-war [/i]
The stories of the 2.5 million Muslims who travelled to Europe to fight for the allies during the first world war are finally being told
A biting wind whips across the rolling countryside, cutting through the crowd gathered on a hillside overlooking Notre Dame de Lorette, France’s national war cemetery. Huddled amid what remains of the 440 miles of trenches that made up the western front, they shudder out of shock and surprise rather than cold while listening about life for the men who endured the horrors of the first world war.
More than 1.5 billion artillery shells fell in this part of northern France, close to the town of Arras, prompting soldiers to nickname the farmland in which they fought “the hell of the north”, or poignantly, “the cemetery”. It is the experiences of some of their Muslim comrades, however, that particularly capture the crowd’s imagination, drawing looks of disbelief at a history that has never been fully told.
Having travelled thousands of miles from hotter climes, these soldiers went into the trenches with imams whose duties included leading group prayers and reciting the call to prayer into the ears of the dying. Special orders had been issued on when and how to pray. “If the war is intense and the Muslim does not have a moment of peace to fulfil his prayer he can just move his head and torso,” said a declaration from French high command. “In the case where there are moments of calm, one can complete the prayer together.”
Hot halal food was routinely served, prepared by cooks who had accompanied the men. When medical supplies ran out, some of these soldiers used traditional herbal medicines from their homelands to help treat injured comrades, whatever their faith. Others taught their folk songs to those serving alongside them, whatever their language, in between the brutal onslaughts of trench warfare.
The evidence of their sacrifice is on display in a corner of Notre Dame de Lorette, which contains the graves of 40,000 French soldiers who fell on the western front. The Muslim headstones are distinguishable not just by their Islamic inscriptions but because they also tilt eastwards towards Mecca. They were designed by the French painter Etienne Dinet, who converted to Islam in 1908.
The crowd of mainly British Muslims, who were at Notre Dame de Lorette before this weekend’s Armistice Day commemorations, ended their visit by praying over the graves of the north African soldiers who shared their faith. Their visit formed part of a groundbreaking project by an organisation called the Forgotten Heroes 14-19 Foundation, which has, for the first time, documented the contribution of all the Muslims who fought and worked for the allied forces during the first world war. The 19 in its name refers to the conflict that was caused by the French military presence in Syria in 1919 after the first world war ended.
Researchers have spent the past six years delving into military, diplomatic and private archives, including diaries and letters, across 19 countries, accessing more than 850,000 documents in French, English, Farsi, Urdu, Russian, German and Arabic, as well as hundreds of images. They estimate that 2.5 million Muslims contributed to the allied cause either as soldiers or labourers, the first time such a figure has been established.
The foundation was founded by a Belgian, Luc Ferrier, 53, after he came across his great-grandfather’s first world war diaries in his attic in which he wrote extensively about the “Mohammedans” he encountered in the trenches. Gripped by fascination, Ferrier delved into the history books to learn more, but found that there was little information available.
He began conducting his own research, initially through Belgian and French war records, and realised there was a bigger story to tell. In fact, he became so engrossed by it that he gave up his job in the aeronautical industry to establish the foundation in 2012 and devote his life to documenting the role of all Muslims involved in the war.
Muslims are portrayed as the enemy within, but we can show that they sacrificed their lives for a free Europe
They were drawn from across Africa, India, the far and middle east, Russia and even America, but it is their heart-touching stories of living and dying alongside European Christian or Jewish counterparts that have resonated the most with Ferrier and his team. Knowing this history, they say, could help overcome some problems in the Europe of today.
Documents uncovered have shown instances of imams, priests and rabbis learning each other’s burial ceremonies and prayers to lay the dead to rest on the battlefront. There are reports of Muslim soldiers sharing food with hungry civilians, while French, Belgian and Canadian officers expressed surprise at their humane treatment of German prisoners of war. When asked to explain their conduct, the soldiers quoted the Quran and the teachings of Muhammad on how enemy combatants should be dealt with.
Ferrier, who is not a Muslim, said: “The far-right and Islamophobia is on the rise throughout Europe. Our project is about making all people across the continent understand that we have a shared history. This is not about politics or colonialism. We are simply presenting the facts because this is a story that the whole of Europe needs to know.
“Muslims are portrayed as the enemy within, that they are recent arrivals who have never made a valuable contribution to Europe. But we can show that they have sacrificed their lives for a free Europe, have helped to make it what it is and that they have a right to be here.”
Central to the foundation’s ethos is spreading knowledge of its findings to young Britons and Europeans in particular, with the aim that this will help future generations better understand the Muslim communities living among them. The battlefield tours, entitled The Muslim Experience in World War One, are organised in partnership with Anglia Tours, a company that specialises in battlefield visits for British schoolchildren.
In addition to visiting the trenches, memorials and graves, and hearing the human stories behind them, the tour also includes a visit to the El Badr mosque in Amiens for a presentation on the foundation’s research, followed by a traditional north-African meal. Non-Muslim visitors are also encouraged to witness evening prayers.
Yusuf Chambers of the Muslim Heritage Trust, which works with the foundation in Britain, said: “We are trying to build bridges and what better way to do this than by sharing a meal and socialising together?
“Our work is focused on all communities and ages but particularly the young. We want people to know about this history because we want every British and European child to say that Muslims were heroes of the first world war too.”
The foundation’s work has already caught the eye of first world war experts. Last month, Ferrier addressed historians at Harvard University and he has also presented a paper to the UN. Plans are under way for a book next year that will contain extracts of the documents and images that have been uncovered, and an exhibition is to tour Europe. As the research continues, he estimates that the current figure of 2.5 million Muslims helping the allies during the first world war could increase.
For those visitors who attended last week’s inaugural tour, what proved particularly powerful was hearing letters read out from Muslim soldiers to their families in which they shared their fears and faith. One from an Algerian soldier stationed in the trenches around Notre Dame de Lorette in 1916 read: “I swear by God and by that which we hold sacred, I will never stop saying my prayers, I will never abandon my faith even if I am assailed by ordeals more terrible than those in which I find myself in.”
Visitor Tayaba Shaukat, aged 25 from west London, said: “It’s when you hear these personal testimonies that you really understand what these men went through. The experience of European soldiers in the first world war has been well documented by poets and other writers, but we don’t know anything about the lives of the Muslim and other colonial soldiers and this has to change.”
MUSLIM COMRADES
More...
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/ ... -world-war [/i]
British Far-Right Group Exults Over Attention From Trump
LONDON — She organized “Christian patrols,” marched with crosses through heavily Muslim neighborhoods and accosted veiled women to rail against Islam. She was barred from entering any mosque in England. She has been arrested several times, most recently this month, on charges of making threats and abusive remarks.
Still, Jayda Fransen, the 31-year-old deputy leader of Britain First, a fringe group that insists that white Christian civilization is under threat from Muslims, had received relatively little attention.
That changed on Wednesday, when Britain First got unexpected publicity from President Trump, who recirculated three sometimes misleading videos Ms. Fransen had posted on Twitter that purported to show Muslims engaged in violence.
Hours later, Ms. Fransen took to Twitter to thank him. “You’ve shed light on my plight here in Britain, in that I am facing prison for giving a speech in which I criticized Islam,” she wrote. “This is evidence that Britain has become Sharia-compliant,” she added, referring to Islamic law.
Mr. Trump’s tweets drew a rare rebuke from a staunch ally, as Britain’s prime minister and British lawmakers from across the spectrum said that he had given a platform to a hate group, one so extreme that it has been shunned even by other far-right organizations, and has attracted the notice of law enforcement.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/29/worl ... d=45305309
LONDON — She organized “Christian patrols,” marched with crosses through heavily Muslim neighborhoods and accosted veiled women to rail against Islam. She was barred from entering any mosque in England. She has been arrested several times, most recently this month, on charges of making threats and abusive remarks.
Still, Jayda Fransen, the 31-year-old deputy leader of Britain First, a fringe group that insists that white Christian civilization is under threat from Muslims, had received relatively little attention.
That changed on Wednesday, when Britain First got unexpected publicity from President Trump, who recirculated three sometimes misleading videos Ms. Fransen had posted on Twitter that purported to show Muslims engaged in violence.
Hours later, Ms. Fransen took to Twitter to thank him. “You’ve shed light on my plight here in Britain, in that I am facing prison for giving a speech in which I criticized Islam,” she wrote. “This is evidence that Britain has become Sharia-compliant,” she added, referring to Islamic law.
Mr. Trump’s tweets drew a rare rebuke from a staunch ally, as Britain’s prime minister and British lawmakers from across the spectrum said that he had given a platform to a hate group, one so extreme that it has been shunned even by other far-right organizations, and has attracted the notice of law enforcement.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/29/worl ... d=45305309
How did Victorian Muslims celebrate Christmas?
At 6am on December 25, 1888, the winter sun was yet to rise over the English city of Liverpool.
A Victorian terrace house was feverish with activity.
The soft glow of candlelight emanating from 8 Brougham Terrace revealed men and women busily putting up decorations and preparing food for the big celebration ahead, Christmas Day.
In one corner, a familiar Victorian scene of a woman playing the piano and directing hymn rehearsals, the singers' voices muted by the howling of a bitter northeasterly wind as it rattled the thin panes of glass.
This was Britain's first mosque and Muslim community preparing for their very first Christmas Day.
More...
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/featur ... 51020.html
At 6am on December 25, 1888, the winter sun was yet to rise over the English city of Liverpool.
A Victorian terrace house was feverish with activity.
The soft glow of candlelight emanating from 8 Brougham Terrace revealed men and women busily putting up decorations and preparing food for the big celebration ahead, Christmas Day.
In one corner, a familiar Victorian scene of a woman playing the piano and directing hymn rehearsals, the singers' voices muted by the howling of a bitter northeasterly wind as it rattled the thin panes of glass.
This was Britain's first mosque and Muslim community preparing for their very first Christmas Day.
More...
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/featur ... 51020.html
Europe’s multicultural fears hide an integration success story
Excerpt:
This all ignores what is actually happening in Western Europe – which is one of the most successful and rapid stories of cultural and economic integration the world has seen.
There certainly are many white Europeans who think their brown-hued neighbours are poorly integrated aliens. The migrant influx of 2015 and 2016 didn't help – those hundreds of thousands of lost souls stole attention from Europe's tens of millions of immigrants and minorities, whose stories are entirely different.
We now have very comprehensive data showing just how well-integrated Europe's minority groups are becoming. Most recent, published late last year, is a big study of Muslim populations by Germany-based Bertelsmann Foundation. It was preceded by an even larger-scale study of integration by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
The German study found that "religious affiliation does not impede integration" in European countries. Not only that, but, as the OECD observed, "integration challenges do not increase with the share of immigrants in the population" – in fact, the countries with the largest immigrant populations tend to have the most total cultural and economic integration.
Immigrants and their offspring in Europe almost exclusively feel loyal to – and connected to – the country where they live; only 3 per cent of German and French Muslims and 8 per cent of British Muslims identify with their countries of ancestry (this is a lower rate than, say, European immigrants in Canada).
And they're not forming "parallel societies": Three-quarters of European Muslims spend their free time daily with European Christians, Jews and atheists – and that rate of contact increases with each generation.
Education is where Europe has often lagged: Its school systems often contain built-in incentives for minority children to fall behind or drop out. The Bertelsmann study found that the best educational integration is in France, where only 11 per cent of Muslims leave school before turning 18 (not much more than the ethnic-French population).
Germany and Switzerland, with their rigid and old-fashioned systems, have higher dropout rates – but they make up for this in employment, as immigrant-descended citizens in those booming economies have employment rates identical to the established population. Across Europe, the OECD says, immigrant employment is only three points lower than among the native-born.
Both studies found gaps and shortcomings in some places, especially educational success – but those are caused by European failures in policies and tolerance, not in lack of immigrant ambition.
Notably, both studies found populations who urgently want to be European, not "multicultural." That's a big difference: As historian Rita Chin observes in her book The Crisis of Multiculturalism in Europe, multiculturalism has largely been opposed by Europe's minorities because of its "surprisingly undemocratic effects" – they've seen it as a barrier to integration; as a result, she writes, we now see "former colonials, guest workers, refugees and their descendants … woven into virtually every aspect of European public life."
That – more than anything else – is what is happening in Europe
More...
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion ... e37738042/
Excerpt:
This all ignores what is actually happening in Western Europe – which is one of the most successful and rapid stories of cultural and economic integration the world has seen.
There certainly are many white Europeans who think their brown-hued neighbours are poorly integrated aliens. The migrant influx of 2015 and 2016 didn't help – those hundreds of thousands of lost souls stole attention from Europe's tens of millions of immigrants and minorities, whose stories are entirely different.
We now have very comprehensive data showing just how well-integrated Europe's minority groups are becoming. Most recent, published late last year, is a big study of Muslim populations by Germany-based Bertelsmann Foundation. It was preceded by an even larger-scale study of integration by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
The German study found that "religious affiliation does not impede integration" in European countries. Not only that, but, as the OECD observed, "integration challenges do not increase with the share of immigrants in the population" – in fact, the countries with the largest immigrant populations tend to have the most total cultural and economic integration.
Immigrants and their offspring in Europe almost exclusively feel loyal to – and connected to – the country where they live; only 3 per cent of German and French Muslims and 8 per cent of British Muslims identify with their countries of ancestry (this is a lower rate than, say, European immigrants in Canada).
And they're not forming "parallel societies": Three-quarters of European Muslims spend their free time daily with European Christians, Jews and atheists – and that rate of contact increases with each generation.
Education is where Europe has often lagged: Its school systems often contain built-in incentives for minority children to fall behind or drop out. The Bertelsmann study found that the best educational integration is in France, where only 11 per cent of Muslims leave school before turning 18 (not much more than the ethnic-French population).
Germany and Switzerland, with their rigid and old-fashioned systems, have higher dropout rates – but they make up for this in employment, as immigrant-descended citizens in those booming economies have employment rates identical to the established population. Across Europe, the OECD says, immigrant employment is only three points lower than among the native-born.
Both studies found gaps and shortcomings in some places, especially educational success – but those are caused by European failures in policies and tolerance, not in lack of immigrant ambition.
Notably, both studies found populations who urgently want to be European, not "multicultural." That's a big difference: As historian Rita Chin observes in her book The Crisis of Multiculturalism in Europe, multiculturalism has largely been opposed by Europe's minorities because of its "surprisingly undemocratic effects" – they've seen it as a barrier to integration; as a result, she writes, we now see "former colonials, guest workers, refugees and their descendants … woven into virtually every aspect of European public life."
That – more than anything else – is what is happening in Europe
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https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion ... e37738042/
‘Punish a Muslim Day’ Letters Rattle U.K. Communities
LONDON — The anonymous letters arrived this weekend in plain white envelopes with second-class stamps, and were sent to people in at least six communities in England.
Inside was a message so hateful that it sent out ripples of alarm and prompted a national counterterrorism investigation.
The message said that April 3 would be “Punish a Muslim Day,” and that points would be awarded for acts of violence: 25 points for pulling off a woman’s head scarf, 500 points for murdering a Muslim and 1,000 for bombing a mosque.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/11/worl ... 3053090312
LONDON — The anonymous letters arrived this weekend in plain white envelopes with second-class stamps, and were sent to people in at least six communities in England.
Inside was a message so hateful that it sent out ripples of alarm and prompted a national counterterrorism investigation.
The message said that April 3 would be “Punish a Muslim Day,” and that points would be awarded for acts of violence: 25 points for pulling off a woman’s head scarf, 500 points for murdering a Muslim and 1,000 for bombing a mosque.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/11/worl ... 3053090312
The Wrong Way for Germany to Debate Islam
Excerpt:
In a representative survey conducted by the University of Münster in 2016, 47 percent of Turkish immigrants and their descendants said that it was more important for them “to abide by religious commands than by the laws of the country I live in.” Some 32 percent said that Muslims should try to re-erect a social order like the one during the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad. And 50 percent said there was “only one true religion.”
These are troubling figures. While giving divine laws priority over worldly laws does not necessarily mean rejecting democracy (many Christians and Jews would subscribe to the same statement), the apparent longing of so many Muslims for an authoritarian rather than an open society is shocking. Their intolerance for those of other beliefs matches a political attitude that surprised this country one year ago: Of the roughly 700,000 Turkish Muslims in Germany who participated in the constitutional referendum in Turkey last April, 63 percent voted in favor of granting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan unilateral powers.
This contempt for liberalism is a real problem, but rhetoric like Mr. Seehofer’s will only make things worse. It will compound a feeling, already widespread among Muslims, of not belonging to Germany anyway. The sentence “Islam does not belong to Germany” is a gift to radicals who hold an obsessive, binary, West versus Islam worldview.
So how do we move on? Instead of prolonging the mistakes of the past, the secular majority in Germany should make clear two things to their fellow Muslim citizens. Yes, Muslims belong here — but belonging brings with it expectations. Being a citizen means, first and foremost, upholding the values and laws that make this country so attractive. The secular majority must learn how to convey this expectation in a clear yet civil manner.
Germans struggle with this because they are uncomfortable, for historical reasons, with making such demands of religious minorities. The problem, in other words, is not just politicians who wield stupid slogans. It is also the majority of nonpopulist Germans who are shy about expressing the terms of participation in a pluralist society.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/29/opin ... dline&te=1
Excerpt:
In a representative survey conducted by the University of Münster in 2016, 47 percent of Turkish immigrants and their descendants said that it was more important for them “to abide by religious commands than by the laws of the country I live in.” Some 32 percent said that Muslims should try to re-erect a social order like the one during the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad. And 50 percent said there was “only one true religion.”
These are troubling figures. While giving divine laws priority over worldly laws does not necessarily mean rejecting democracy (many Christians and Jews would subscribe to the same statement), the apparent longing of so many Muslims for an authoritarian rather than an open society is shocking. Their intolerance for those of other beliefs matches a political attitude that surprised this country one year ago: Of the roughly 700,000 Turkish Muslims in Germany who participated in the constitutional referendum in Turkey last April, 63 percent voted in favor of granting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan unilateral powers.
This contempt for liberalism is a real problem, but rhetoric like Mr. Seehofer’s will only make things worse. It will compound a feeling, already widespread among Muslims, of not belonging to Germany anyway. The sentence “Islam does not belong to Germany” is a gift to radicals who hold an obsessive, binary, West versus Islam worldview.
So how do we move on? Instead of prolonging the mistakes of the past, the secular majority in Germany should make clear two things to their fellow Muslim citizens. Yes, Muslims belong here — but belonging brings with it expectations. Being a citizen means, first and foremost, upholding the values and laws that make this country so attractive. The secular majority must learn how to convey this expectation in a clear yet civil manner.
Germans struggle with this because they are uncomfortable, for historical reasons, with making such demands of religious minorities. The problem, in other words, is not just politicians who wield stupid slogans. It is also the majority of nonpopulist Germans who are shy about expressing the terms of participation in a pluralist society.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/29/opin ... dline&te=1
Too Radical for France, a Muslim Clergyman Faces Deportation
MARSEILLE, France — No ordinary preacher, El Hadi Doudi is perhaps France’s leading proponent of fundamentalist Islam. His influence extends throughout Europe, where his lawyer says the cleric is the only imam authorized to issue fatwas. Over 37 years, he has often berated Jews, women and the modern world, yet the authorities have tolerated his hard-line sermons and occasionally cultivated him as an ally.
That was until now.
The government of President Emmanuel Macron appears poised to expel the preacher in one of the most striking examples of its hardening stance toward radical Islam. Mr. Macron has already used his huge majority in Parliament to inscribe into law some government tactics — searches and seizures, house arrests, shutting down mosques — that had been applied before only as part of the state of emergency put in place after terrorist attacks in Paris killed 130 people in November 2015.
The case of Imam Doudi, 63, who was born in Algeria and is not a French citizen, is part of a high-profile effort by the Macron administration to intensify scrutiny of Muslim clerics and, in some cases, to deport them. Some analysts say that Mr. Macron is using it to display toughness, as European governments struggle for tools to battle radical Islam, and as he fends off political challenges from the far right.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/05/worl ... 9877220406
MARSEILLE, France — No ordinary preacher, El Hadi Doudi is perhaps France’s leading proponent of fundamentalist Islam. His influence extends throughout Europe, where his lawyer says the cleric is the only imam authorized to issue fatwas. Over 37 years, he has often berated Jews, women and the modern world, yet the authorities have tolerated his hard-line sermons and occasionally cultivated him as an ally.
That was until now.
The government of President Emmanuel Macron appears poised to expel the preacher in one of the most striking examples of its hardening stance toward radical Islam. Mr. Macron has already used his huge majority in Parliament to inscribe into law some government tactics — searches and seizures, house arrests, shutting down mosques — that had been applied before only as part of the state of emergency put in place after terrorist attacks in Paris killed 130 people in November 2015.
The case of Imam Doudi, 63, who was born in Algeria and is not a French citizen, is part of a high-profile effort by the Macron administration to intensify scrutiny of Muslim clerics and, in some cases, to deport them. Some analysts say that Mr. Macron is using it to display toughness, as European governments struggle for tools to battle radical Islam, and as he fends off political challenges from the far right.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/05/worl ... 9877220406
Soccer star Mo Salah’s massive popularity is changing perceptions of Muslims in the UK
The Muslim soccer star has millions of fans. But is that enough to combat Islamophobia?
Mohamed “Mo” Salah, who plays soccer for Liverpool, England, as well as for Egypt, has just come off a season in which he established himself as one of the most exciting players in the world. A Muslim of North African heritage, he plays, excels, and is adored in Britain, a country in which anti-Muslim sentiment is increasingly part of mainstream political and cultural discourse.
And he should be one of the stars of the upcoming 2018 World Cup later this month — if, that is, he makes it to the tournament at all. Due to a recent injury, that’s now in question.
Salah started playing organized soccer as a teenager on an Egyptian team called the Arab Contractors. He joined Egypt’s national team in 2011 at age 19 and moved to Europe the following year. His first years were promising but patchy, and to say this has been a breakout season for Salah is a massive understatement.
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https://www.vox.com/world/2018/6/15/174 ... slim-islam
The Muslim soccer star has millions of fans. But is that enough to combat Islamophobia?
Mohamed “Mo” Salah, who plays soccer for Liverpool, England, as well as for Egypt, has just come off a season in which he established himself as one of the most exciting players in the world. A Muslim of North African heritage, he plays, excels, and is adored in Britain, a country in which anti-Muslim sentiment is increasingly part of mainstream political and cultural discourse.
And he should be one of the stars of the upcoming 2018 World Cup later this month — if, that is, he makes it to the tournament at all. Due to a recent injury, that’s now in question.
Salah started playing organized soccer as a teenager on an Egyptian team called the Arab Contractors. He joined Egypt’s national team in 2011 at age 19 and moved to Europe the following year. His first years were promising but patchy, and to say this has been a breakout season for Salah is a massive understatement.
More...
https://www.vox.com/world/2018/6/15/174 ... slim-islam
King's Cross Aga Khan Centre shows wonders of the Islamic world
Britain's largest collection of Islamic gardens, terraces and courtyards is to be opened today by Prince Charles at a new Muslim education hub in the capital.
The Aga Khan Centre in King’s Cross, designed by Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki, will have six landscaped open spaces inspired by different Muslim cultures from around the world.
There will also be four other havens of calm surrounding the ten-storey building, in what is the heart of one of London’s biggest regeneration districts.
Today’s inauguration will be attended by Prince Shah Karim Al Hussaini, also known as Aga Khan, the spiritual leader of the Shia Ismaili Muslims and London Mayor Sadiq Khan.
More....
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/ ... 72041.html
Britain's largest collection of Islamic gardens, terraces and courtyards is to be opened today by Prince Charles at a new Muslim education hub in the capital.
The Aga Khan Centre in King’s Cross, designed by Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki, will have six landscaped open spaces inspired by different Muslim cultures from around the world.
There will also be four other havens of calm surrounding the ten-storey building, in what is the heart of one of London’s biggest regeneration districts.
Today’s inauguration will be attended by Prince Shah Karim Al Hussaini, also known as Aga Khan, the spiritual leader of the Shia Ismaili Muslims and London Mayor Sadiq Khan.
More....
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/ ... 72041.html
Islam in Belgium
Influencing moderation
Since terrorist attacks in 2016, the Belgian government has intervened more in the country’s Islamic scene to encourage moderate tendencies. For example, oversight of the Great Mosque in Brussels was transferred from Saudi Arabia to a domestic organisation. But implementing change is challenging because of rivalry between Moroccan and Turkish Muslims, and divisions in Belgian society, which is split along linguistic lines.
MORE...
https://www.economist.com/erasmus/2018/ ... m=20180716
Influencing moderation
Since terrorist attacks in 2016, the Belgian government has intervened more in the country’s Islamic scene to encourage moderate tendencies. For example, oversight of the Great Mosque in Brussels was transferred from Saudi Arabia to a domestic organisation. But implementing change is challenging because of rivalry between Moroccan and Turkish Muslims, and divisions in Belgian society, which is split along linguistic lines.
MORE...
https://www.economist.com/erasmus/2018/ ... m=20180716
Women defiant as Danish ban on full-face veil takes effect
Denmark's controversial ban on the Islamic full-face veil in public spaces came into force on Wednesday as women protested the new measure which fines anyone wearing the garment.
Human rights campaigners have slammed the ban as a violation of women's rights, while supporters argue it enables better integration of Muslim immigrants into Danish society.
More...
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/wo ... ailsignout
Denmark's controversial ban on the Islamic full-face veil in public spaces came into force on Wednesday as women protested the new measure which fines anyone wearing the garment.
Human rights campaigners have slammed the ban as a violation of women's rights, while supporters argue it enables better integration of Muslim immigrants into Danish society.
More...
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/wo ... ailsignout
Swedish Muslim woman wins case after refusing to shake hands with man during job interview
A Swedish Muslim woman whose job interview was terminated when she refused to shake hands with a man has won compensation.
Farah Alhajeh, 24, was applying for a job as an interpreter in her hometown of Uppsala when, for religious reasons, she placed her hand over her heart instead of shaking the hand of her male interviewer.
In the first judgement of its kind, the Swedish labour court ruled the company had discriminated against her.
The company had argued her actions contravened their requirement for staff to treat men and women equally.
More....
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/sw ... ailsignout
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From France to Denmark, bans on full-face Muslim veils are spreading across Europe
Earlier this month, Denmark became the fifth country in Europe to introduce a ban on face coverings in public places. The policy is widely viewed as being targeted at Muslim women who wear veils such as the niqab.
Despite protests in the country’s capital, police have started enforcing the law in earnest. On Aug. 3, a 28-year-old wearing the niqab, which covers the entire body except the eyes, was attacked by another Danish woman who tried to pull her veil off, the Guardian reported. Police fined the Muslim woman $156.
Legislation around full-face veils has grown increasingly common in Europe, particularly in the past three years. Six countries have now passed nationwide laws that partially or fully ban face veils in public places. The latest is the Netherlands, which voted in June to partially ban face veils in locations such as schools and hospitals, but not on public streets.
Several other European countries, including Spain and Italy, have banned them in individual cities and towns, and even more have reviewed proposals for bans at a local or national level.
More....
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/fr ... ailsignout
A Swedish Muslim woman whose job interview was terminated when she refused to shake hands with a man has won compensation.
Farah Alhajeh, 24, was applying for a job as an interpreter in her hometown of Uppsala when, for religious reasons, she placed her hand over her heart instead of shaking the hand of her male interviewer.
In the first judgement of its kind, the Swedish labour court ruled the company had discriminated against her.
The company had argued her actions contravened their requirement for staff to treat men and women equally.
More....
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/sw ... ailsignout
********
From France to Denmark, bans on full-face Muslim veils are spreading across Europe
Earlier this month, Denmark became the fifth country in Europe to introduce a ban on face coverings in public places. The policy is widely viewed as being targeted at Muslim women who wear veils such as the niqab.
Despite protests in the country’s capital, police have started enforcing the law in earnest. On Aug. 3, a 28-year-old wearing the niqab, which covers the entire body except the eyes, was attacked by another Danish woman who tried to pull her veil off, the Guardian reported. Police fined the Muslim woman $156.
Legislation around full-face veils has grown increasingly common in Europe, particularly in the past three years. Six countries have now passed nationwide laws that partially or fully ban face veils in public places. The latest is the Netherlands, which voted in June to partially ban face veils in locations such as schools and hospitals, but not on public streets.
Several other European countries, including Spain and Italy, have banned them in individual cities and towns, and even more have reviewed proposals for bans at a local or national level.
More....
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/fr ... ailsignout
Amid an Anti-Muslim Mood, a Museum Appeals for Understanding
Image
Excerpt:
Today, Italians have little exposure to the Islamic world beyond the Muslims living in their midst — many of them recent immigrants — and media reports of Mideast wars and Islamist-inspired terrorism. That tense context has led some to associate Islam with violence and spawned anti-Muslim sentiments which, earlier this year, helped usher in a populist government promising to crack down on immigration.
The Florence exhibition is a scholarly riposte to those developments.
“I felt that among all the possible exhibitions, this would be a particular priority,” said Eike Schmidt, the Uffizi Gallery’s German director, who programmed the show soon after arriving in 2015. “Oftentimes, there is a lack of knowledge about and comprehension of other cultures, especially Islamic culture. There are tensions that come out of the present day, on both sides.”
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https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/17/arts ... ref=oembed
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The West Hoped for Democracy in Turkey. Erdogan Had Other Ideas.
Excerpt:
In Western capitals a decade ago, Turkey’s now-paramount leader, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, held promise as a potential beacon of democracy for a region rife with religious conflict.
Turkey was a stalwart NATO ally bridging Europe and the volatile Middle East. As Mr. Erdogan sought to secure a place for his country in the ranks of the European Union, he presented himself as a moderate and modernizing Muslim leader for the post-9/11 age. He catered to perceptions that Turkey was becoming a liberal society governed by tolerance and the rule of law.
But that was before Mr. Erdogan began amassing supreme powers, and before his brutal crackdown on dissent following an attempted coup two years ago. It was before Turkey descended into a financial crisis delivered in no small measure by his authoritarian proclivities and unorthodox stewardship of the economy. Whatever was left of the notion that Mr. Erdogan was a liberalizing force has been wholly extinguished.
More....
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/18/busi ... 3053090819
Image
Excerpt:
Today, Italians have little exposure to the Islamic world beyond the Muslims living in their midst — many of them recent immigrants — and media reports of Mideast wars and Islamist-inspired terrorism. That tense context has led some to associate Islam with violence and spawned anti-Muslim sentiments which, earlier this year, helped usher in a populist government promising to crack down on immigration.
The Florence exhibition is a scholarly riposte to those developments.
“I felt that among all the possible exhibitions, this would be a particular priority,” said Eike Schmidt, the Uffizi Gallery’s German director, who programmed the show soon after arriving in 2015. “Oftentimes, there is a lack of knowledge about and comprehension of other cultures, especially Islamic culture. There are tensions that come out of the present day, on both sides.”
More....
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/17/arts ... ref=oembed
******
The West Hoped for Democracy in Turkey. Erdogan Had Other Ideas.
Excerpt:
In Western capitals a decade ago, Turkey’s now-paramount leader, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, held promise as a potential beacon of democracy for a region rife with religious conflict.
Turkey was a stalwart NATO ally bridging Europe and the volatile Middle East. As Mr. Erdogan sought to secure a place for his country in the ranks of the European Union, he presented himself as a moderate and modernizing Muslim leader for the post-9/11 age. He catered to perceptions that Turkey was becoming a liberal society governed by tolerance and the rule of law.
But that was before Mr. Erdogan began amassing supreme powers, and before his brutal crackdown on dissent following an attempted coup two years ago. It was before Turkey descended into a financial crisis delivered in no small measure by his authoritarian proclivities and unorthodox stewardship of the economy. Whatever was left of the notion that Mr. Erdogan was a liberalizing force has been wholly extinguished.
More....
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/18/busi ... 3053090819
Islamic art will adorn walls of Colchester Arts Centre
ISLAMIC art techniques were used to create striking patterns and provoke feelings of accomplishment among the artists.
Lateefa Spiker, a founding member of the educational Art of Islamic Pattern collective, spent the day with young carers, looked-after children, refugees and low-income families at Colchester Arts Centre.
The project was funded by the Arts Society Colchester and saw Lateefa pass on the same magic of geometric pattern that she learnt studying at the Prince’s School of Traditional Arts, in London.
The artist and designer said: “Working with the simple tools of compass and ruler to create such complex and beautiful designs brings the student a wonderful feeling of accomplishment.
“When the students bring their tiles together to create a larger pattern, there is a feeling of belonging and togetherness.
“Working with Islamic pattern can give a strong sense of identity for those who are refugees from Islamic countries.”
More...
http://www.gazette-news.co.uk/news/1658 ... ts-centre/
ISLAMIC art techniques were used to create striking patterns and provoke feelings of accomplishment among the artists.
Lateefa Spiker, a founding member of the educational Art of Islamic Pattern collective, spent the day with young carers, looked-after children, refugees and low-income families at Colchester Arts Centre.
The project was funded by the Arts Society Colchester and saw Lateefa pass on the same magic of geometric pattern that she learnt studying at the Prince’s School of Traditional Arts, in London.
The artist and designer said: “Working with the simple tools of compass and ruler to create such complex and beautiful designs brings the student a wonderful feeling of accomplishment.
“When the students bring their tiles together to create a larger pattern, there is a feeling of belonging and togetherness.
“Working with Islamic pattern can give a strong sense of identity for those who are refugees from Islamic countries.”
More...
http://www.gazette-news.co.uk/news/1658 ... ts-centre/
This Unique Exhibition Showcases The Historical Bond Between The Medicis And The Orient
A rare exhibition reveals how Medici Florence spurred an appreciation for the Islamic world. Rebecca Anne Proctor explores the artistic dialogue that continues to foster cultural exchange.
More...
https://www.harpersbazaararabia.com/art ... the-orient
A rare exhibition reveals how Medici Florence spurred an appreciation for the Islamic world. Rebecca Anne Proctor explores the artistic dialogue that continues to foster cultural exchange.
More...
https://www.harpersbazaararabia.com/art ... the-orient
It Isn’t an Easy Time to Be a British Muslim. Cricket Helps.
The career of Moeen Ali, a player on England’s national cricket team, shows us how Britain thrives when institutions accommodate the religious and cultural needs of minorities.
Excerpt:
Team sports are all about creating a cohesive identity. But instead of expecting every player to conform to the cultural codes of the team, the England and Wales Cricket Board acknowledges that every player is different and needs to be treated individually. In doing so it has made the team stronger.
The Conservative Party, and indeed Britain as a whole, could learn a lot from the cricket team’s approach. The life and cricket career of Moeen Ali, a visibly Muslim player on the England cricket team, illustrates how both the country and its minorities thrive when British institutions accommodate the religious and cultural needs of minorities.
Mr. Ali, who is a religious Muslim, wears a luxurious beard, prays in the dressing room and fasts during five-day Test cricket matches, symbolizes something bigger than the game. Every time Mr. Ali plays for England, British Muslims like me are willing him to succeed.
When someone as devout as Mr. Ali thrives in the pressure cooker of professional sport, it lends hope for a better future to 2.8 million British Muslims. Mr. Ali was born in the city of Birmingham, in 1987 to British-Pakistani parents.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/14/opin ... dline&te=1
The career of Moeen Ali, a player on England’s national cricket team, shows us how Britain thrives when institutions accommodate the religious and cultural needs of minorities.
Excerpt:
Team sports are all about creating a cohesive identity. But instead of expecting every player to conform to the cultural codes of the team, the England and Wales Cricket Board acknowledges that every player is different and needs to be treated individually. In doing so it has made the team stronger.
The Conservative Party, and indeed Britain as a whole, could learn a lot from the cricket team’s approach. The life and cricket career of Moeen Ali, a visibly Muslim player on the England cricket team, illustrates how both the country and its minorities thrive when British institutions accommodate the religious and cultural needs of minorities.
Mr. Ali, who is a religious Muslim, wears a luxurious beard, prays in the dressing room and fasts during five-day Test cricket matches, symbolizes something bigger than the game. Every time Mr. Ali plays for England, British Muslims like me are willing him to succeed.
When someone as devout as Mr. Ali thrives in the pressure cooker of professional sport, it lends hope for a better future to 2.8 million British Muslims. Mr. Ali was born in the city of Birmingham, in 1987 to British-Pakistani parents.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/14/opin ... dline&te=1