Iranian 'news agency' copying off 'Islam in Europe'

Iranian 'news agency' copying off 'Islam in Europe'

Yesterday I posted a story titled Belgium: Muslim organization sues sociologist for making link between Islam and antisemitism.

Lo and behold, the Iranian AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA) posted the same story, with the same headline, and with the same exact translation. They just forgot to mention the source (HLN) or the translator (me).

This isn't the first time, and there are a few so-called serious organizations who do this. I've given up on chasing up on this. Just be aware, if you use ABNA as a news source, that they are not real journalists.

Denmark: 'One-legged bomber' found guilty of terrorism

Denmark: 'One-legged bomber' found guilty of terrorism

Via Reuters:

A Danish court on Monday found a 25-year-old ethnic Chechen man guilty of an attempted act of terrorism against a Danish newspaper which in 2005 printed cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad.

Lors Doukaev, a Belgian citizen, was arrested after he accidentally set off a small blast at the Hotel Jorgensen in the centre of the Danish capital on Sept. 10 last year, injuring only himself.

(source)

Ukraine: Girl stoned to death for taking part in beauty contest

Ukraine: Girl stoned to death for taking part in beauty contest

Via the Daily Mail:

A teenage Muslim girl was stoned to death under 'Sharia law' after taking part in a beauty contest in Ukraine.

Katya Koren, 19, was found dead in a village in the Crimea region near her home.

Friends said she liked wearing fashionable clothes and had come seventh in a beauty contest.

Denmark: Government to study cultural impact of immigration

Denmark: Government to study cultural impact of immigration

Via Kristeligt-Dagblad (Danish):

Søren Pind, the Danish integration minister, will study what immigration will mean to Denmark cultural-wise in 40 years. This request by the Danish People's Party (DPP) is part of a recent agreement with the government regarding easier deportation of criminal foreigners.

Martin Henriksen (DPP), a member of the integration committee, says that according to Statistics Denmark, there were 361,000 non-Westerners in Denmark in 2009, making up 6.6% of the population. According to Statistics Denmark's population projections this group will double to 728,000 people in 2050, or 12.1% of the population. In total, 16.6% of the population are expected to be of immigrant background in 2050, compared with 9.7% in 2009.

Belgium: Muslim organization sues sociologist for making link between Islam and antisemitism

Belgium: Muslim organization sues sociologist for making link between Islam and antisemitism

Via HLN (Dutch):
The Vigilance Musulmane (Muslim Vigilance) think-tank lodged a complaint with the Centre for Equal Opportunities and the Fight Against Racism (CGKR) against VUB professor of sociology Mark Elchardus, for statements about Islam and antisemitism he made in the De Morgen newspaper.

On May 12 the newspaper published the results of a study 'Jong in Brussel' by the Youth Research Platform. In the article Mark Elchardus said that antisemitism among Muslim students was theologically inspired and that there is a direct link between being Muslim and harboring antisemitic feelings.

UK: churchman denies bacon-throwing hate campaign

UK: churchman denies bacon-throwing hate campaign

Via Chronicle Live (h/t London Muslim):

A CHURCH stalwart accused of leaving rashers of bacon outside a mosque and Muslim homes has denied running a religious hate campaign.

John White was arrested as police investigated a spate of incidents in South Shields earlier this year.

He pleaded not guilty at Newcastle Crown Court to five offences of religiously aggravated harassment, alarm, or distress.

(source)

Germany: Woman sets fire to man in mosque

Germany: Woman sets fire to man in mosque

Via the Local:

A Turkish woman set fire to a man in a mosque in southern Germany on Saturday. She says she acted out of revenge after the man raped her.

The 36-year-old poured petrol over the 38-year-old man in a mosque in the city of Reutlingen, in Baden-Württemberg, before setting him alight. The woman was taken into custody on Sunday, on charges of attempted murder, according to the state prosecutors office and the police.

The victim was admitted into hospital after the attack suffering from severe burns, however his life is not in danger.

(source)

UK: Muslim inbreeding endangering health of future generations, warns geneticist

UK: Muslim inbreeding endangering health of future generations, warns geneticist

Antwerp: 45% of elementary school students are Muslim

Antwerp: 45% of elementary school students are Muslim

Via HLN:

Almost half of the students in the Antwerp municipal elementary school system are Muslim, an increase of 12% compared with the 2007-2008 school-year. The figures are based on how many students ask to take Islam classes. The data was provided by request of Vlaams Belang from the Antwerp alderman of education, Robert Voorhamme (sp.a)

Italy: Muslims thank Bishop for Milan mosque support

Italy: Muslims thank Bishop for Milan mosque support

Via AKI:

Italy's largest Muslim group has sent a message to Italy's highest ranking bishop to thank him for his organisation's support for a project to construct a mosque in Milan, the country's conservative business hub.

In the message to Angelo Bagnasco, who leads Italy's Bishops' Conference (CEI), the UCOII said: "We are relieved and immensely grateful for the position voiced by senior officials from the Italian Bishops' Conference in support of official places of worship for Muslims, an issue which nowadays has wrongly become a political hot potato."

"The brotherly solidarity of the great majority of Christians, which we have experienced at thousands of inter-faith gatherings and debates, has been strongly confirmed," the statement added.

(source)

Denmark: Municipalities offer on-line info in Urdu, Arabic, Farsi, Bosnian, Turkish and Somali (and French)

Denmark: Municipalities offer on-line info in Urdu, Arabic, Farsi, Bosnian, Turkish and Somali (and French)

Oslo: Pakistani uses religion to justify rape

Oslo: Pakistani uses religion to justify rape

EU: Entrepreneurial Muslim women make modest dress mainstream

EU: Entrepreneurial Muslim women make modest dress mainstream

Via DW-World:

Fashion-conscious young Muslim women are well aware that in western societies, covering up is often considered more scandalous than baring all.

Sport-minded Muslims like to quote the Prophet Mohammad, who said, "Teach your children swimming, archery and horse-riding." As far as the former is concerned, the difficulty is reconciling it with the Quran's instruction to both men and women to dress modestly.

Stuttgart: University cancels conference on Ottoman persecution of Christians

Stuttgart: University cancels conference on Ottoman persecution of Christians

Via NRP, Katholisches Info:

Greek and Assyrian organizations intended to hold a memorial and conference yesterday at Stuttgart University on the persecution and expulsion of Christians in the Ottoman Empire 1912-1922. The university approved their request for conference rooms more than a month ago, but at the last moment decided to reject the request, due to 'Turkish protests from Berlin', and because the university wanted to remain neutral.

Russia: Politics blamed in closure of Islamic organization

Russia: Politics blamed in closure of Islamic organization

Via the Moscow Times:

An influential Islamic organization with offices across the country has been forced to close, highlighting a political struggle over the country's millions-strong Muslim population.

Representatives of the Islamic Cultural Center and analysts said a Supreme Court ruling upholding the center's closure was politically charged.

"This is a bureaucratic order from people who want the Muslim part of society to be represented by puppets," the center's chairman and founder, Abdul-Wahid Niyazov, told The Moscow Times on Thursday.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday confirmed a decision from the Justice Ministry last fall to close the center for "multiple violations of financial regulations," Interfax reported.

(source)

Sofia: Muslims want second mosque

Sofia: Muslims want second mosque

Via Sofia Echo:

The leadership of the Sofia mosque have said that the Muslim community in the city is so large that the capacity of the mosque simply does not allow for everyone to gather inside during Friday prayers, which means that it is necessary for the authorities to allow the construction of a second mosque.

Serbia: Genocide suspect Ratko Mladic arrested

Serbia: Genocide suspect Ratko Mladic arrested

Munich: Airport opens mosque

Munich: Airport opens mosque

Sweden: Muslim youth org to return grants received from state gambling profits

Sweden: Muslim youth org to return grants received from gambling

Via Tro och Politik (Swedish):

The Young Muslims of Sweden organization (Sveriges unga muslimer) is going to give back a million kroner they've received in grants from the state via Svenska Spel, the government's gambling monopoly.

"The grant is morally questionable since gambling addiction has become more widespread," says Mohammed Kharraki, president of Young Muslims of Sweden.

Sweden: One on three young immigrant jobless

Sweden: One on three young immigrant jobless

Via SR:

The public employment office reports a record number of available jobs, but the unemployment among young immigrants is still increasing rapidly. More than one in three 19 to 24 year old born abroad are without a job today, the news agency TT reports.

Two years earlier, approximately one in five in the same group was jobless. Over the past few years, unemployment among young people born abroad has increased by 3 per cent, while Swedish born youngsters have seen unemployment go down by 10 %.

(source)

Milan: Mayor falls for mosque practical joke

Milan: Mayor falls for mosque practical joke

Lancashire: Mosque leader criticises 'impractical' equality call

Lancashire: Mosque leader criticises 'impractical' equality call

Via the Lancashire Telegraph:

OFFICIAL guidelines that women should have more influence in running mosques have been criticised by local leaders.

The Mosque and Imams Advisory Board, MINAB, wants to reform and regulate Islamic places of worship and has also asked for sermons to be held in English.

Salim Mulla, the chair of the Lancashire Council of Mosques, said the advice was ‘unhelpful, impractical and an interference’.

(source)

Belgium: Burqa ban set to become law

Belgium: Burqa ban set to become law

Via M&C:

Belgium was set Wednesday to become the second European Union country to enforce a ban on public wearing of Islamic face veils, as its senate failed to raise objections against the provision passed last month by the lower chamber of parliament.

The Chamber of Deputies approved the so-called burqa ban law on April 28. The senate had 15 days to interfere with it, but declined to do so, the Belga news agency said, quoting sources from the Belgian Parliament.

(source)

Spain: Moroccan man on trial for 'total control' of his wife

Spain: Moroccan man on trial for 'total control' of his wife

Via ThinkSpain:

A MUSLIM woman has reported her husband for forcing her to wear a veil in public in a landmark case which could encourage more oppressed Arab women to fight back.

The Moroccan national, who lives in La Seu d'Urgell (Lleida) says her husband forced her to cover her face in public, and forbade her from speaking Spanish to anyone or looking them directly in the face.

(source)

UK: Asian people 42 times more likely to be held under terror law

UK: Asian people 42 times more likely to be held under terror law

Via the Guardian:

People from ethnic minorities are up to 42 times more likely than white people to be the target of a counter-terrorism power which allows the stopping and searching of the innocent yet grants them fewer rights than suspected criminals, official figures seen by the Guardian show.

The power is contained in schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000, which allows police to stop people at ports and airports for up to nine hours without the need for reasonable suspicion that they are involved in any crime.

The figures have led to accusations that police have resorted to "ethnic profiling", which they deny.

British Muslims have given written statements to the Guardian alleging that the police and the security service MI5 are abusing the power by holding people and pressing them into becoming spies.

(source)

Belgium: Store stops selling toilet paper with 'Allah', 'Mohammed' zodiac design

Belgium: Store stops selling toilet paper with 'Allah', 'Mohammed' zodiac design

UK: First female Muslim Lord Mayor

UK: First female Muslim Lord Mayor

Sofia: Mayor promises probe into mosque noise emission levels

Sofia: Mayor promises probe into mosque noise emission levels

Via the Sofia Echo:

Sofia mayor Yordanka Fandukova has said that she will launch an investigation to establish whether indeed, the loudspeakers at the mosque are too loud, and are causing obstruction to people who live or work in the area.

"Bulgaria is a legal state with laws and regulations, and my commitment is to do everything possible for them to be upheld," Fandukova told the bTV.

(source)

Sweden: Forced deportations expected to increase

Sweden: Forced deportations expected to increase

Via the Local:

Forced deportations of rejected asylum seekers are expected to increase by 30 percent compared to last year due in part to Sweden's new asylum policies.

Earlier this year, the centre-right Alliance government and the Green Party reached an agreement to overhaul Sweden's immigration and asylum policies.

One of the key elements of the agreement was a promise to ensure that asylum seekers who had their applications rejected would leave the country quickly.

In an effort to come up with new ways to carry out deportation orders more quickly, police in Skåne have implemented a special surveillance team to track down rejected asylum seekers, the Dagens Nyheter (DN) newspaper reports.

(source)

Norway: 'Muslims participate the least in the labor market'

Norway: 'Muslims participate the least in the labor market'

Netherlands: Court rejects bid to drop hate speech trial

Netherlands: Court rejects bid to drop hate speech trial

Via DW-World:

Dutch anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders has failed in his bid to have a hate speech trial against him dismissed. Judges in the Netherlands have rejected the Dutch Freedom Party leader's claim that the court was not impartial.

Judges in the Netherlands ruled on Monday that the hate speech trial against anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders will continue, despite claims from his lawyers that the court trying him was not impartial.

(source)

Berlusconi: Opposition will Islamisize Milan

Berlusconi: Opposition will Islamisize Milan

Via AKI:

Days ahead of a key run-off vote for mayor of Milan, Italy's prime minister Silvio Berlusconi warned the opposition centre-left would turn his hometown into an "Islamic" city overrun by Roma Gypsies and other immigrants.

"Milan can't become, on the eve of the Expo 2015, an Islamic city, a city of Gypsies, full of Roma camps and swamped by foreigners, a city that gives voting rights to immigrants in municipal elections," Berlusconi said on Monday.

Sofia: Muslim threatened us with knife, says Ataka leader

Sofia: Muslim threatened us with knife, says Ataka leader

Denmark: Gov't campaign to change immigrant attitudes towards women

Denmark: Gov't campaign to change immigrant attitudes towards women

Via JP (Denmark):

Educators, teachers and campaigns will convince immigrants that their attitude towards women is wrong, says the government.
Let by Integration Minister Søren Pind (V) and with support from several ministers, the government will attack the attitude towards women that - they say - is prevalent among some immigrants of Muslim culture.

The "national strategy against forced marriages and oppression' will combat such things as reeducation trips, and have teachers, educators and campaigns to convince immigrants that their attitude towards women is outdated. This will prevent forced marriages and other types of oppression.

Ramadan: Muslims replacing Jews as Europe's scapegoat

Ramadan: Muslims replacing Jews as Europe's scapegoat

Via the Hurriyet Daily News:

Muslims in Europe have replaced the continent’s Jews of yesteryear as the largest target of discrimination and prejudice, according to a prominent Swiss academic and Islamic expert.

“There are new alliances in Europe against the Muslim presence, and people who were against Judaism are now against the Muslim presence in Europe,” Tariq Ramadan, an Oxford professor and grandson of Hasan al-Banna, the founder of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, said Friday at a seminar at Istanbul Bilgi University.

Italy: First Italian food halal supplier

Italy: First Italian food halal supplier

Gothenburg : Hundreds demonstrate for and against building of a mosque

Gothenburg : Hundreds demonstrate for and against building of a mosque

Via AP:

Hundreds of proponents and opponents held rallies in Sweden's second-largest city Goteborg on Saturday to voice their opinions over the building of a mosque there.

Heavy police presence kept the two groups appart and a spokesman for the force said only one person had been arrested for violent behaviour toward an officer. It was the biggest police effort in the city since the EU Summit in 2001, when several thousand people gathered to protest against U.S. President George W. Bush, the EU and globalization.

(source)

Sofia: Muslims attacked in anti-mosque protest

Sofia: Muslims attacked in anti-mosque protest

Catalonia: Political ad warns of Islamic Catalonia in 2015

Catalonia: Political ad warns of Islamic Catalonia in 2015

Ticino: Votes gathered for referendum to ban burqa in canton

Ticino: Votes gathered for referendum to ban burqa in canton

Via the Local:

A petition in Canton Ticino could force a referendum on prohibiting women from wearing burqas in public, a first for the country.

A local committee in Ticino, Switzerland’s Italian-speaking region, said it has collected 11,316 signatures, over a thousand more the required number to launch a referendum. Canton authorities will check the signatures over the next few days, reports say and could then call for a referendum.

(source)

Update: Headline clarified.

Netherlands: Wilders accuses Labour of filling country with ‘Islamic voting fodder’

Netherlands: Wilders accuses Labour of filling country with ‘Islamic voting fodder’

Via Volkskrant, DutchNews:

During a parliamentary debate Thursday, Geert Wilders said that for the past decade the Labour party had filled the country with ‘Islamic voting fodder’.

Emile Roemer, leader of the Socialist Party, thought that was so insulting towards Muslims that he told Wilders he refused to listen further and left the chamber.

PM Rutte later distanced himself from Wilder's statement and said it was a very inappropriate term.

Russia: Al-Qaeda magazine translated into Russian

Russia: Al-Qaeda magazine translated into Russian

Via Reuters:

An al Qaeda online magazine has been translated into Russian in what analysts said on Wednesday was an attempt to strengthen ties with insurgents aiming to carve an Islamic state out of Russia's North Caucasus.

(source)

Moldova: Controversy over recognition of Muslim community

Moldova: Controversy over recognition of Muslim community

(protest against the formal recognition of the Muslim community)

Netherlands: Language course shouldn't be compulsory, says social development council

Netherlands: Language course shouldn't be compulsory, says social development council

Via DutchNews:

Immigrants should not be forced by law to learn Dutch unless their job requires it and compulsory integration courses should be replaced with lessons in democratic citizenship open to everyone, the social development council RMO said in a report on Tuesday.

The aim of the report, presented to immigration minister Gerd Leers, is to put immigrants in a more positive light by basing integration requirements on the principle of 'yes except' rather than 'no unless', the council says.

At the moment, immigrants are seen as a burden but the Netherlands should see the arrival of newcomers as a positive contribution to Dutch society, the report says.

(source)

Cannes: Finnish badboy skewers migrant paranoia

Cannes: Finnish badboy skewers migrant paranoia

France: Mosque desecrated with graffiti

France: Mosque desecrated with graffiti

The El-Hijna mosque in Champagnole (Jura) was covered with racist graffiti Saturday night. Slogans included "Death to the Arabs", "France to the French" and Nazi symbols.

EU: 75% of cattle killed without pain relief

EU: 75% of cattle killed without pain relief

Via SR:

A new report by the European Commission indicates that up to 75 percent of all cattle in the EU are killed without pain relief, causing unnecessary suffering, reports Swedish Radio News.

Previous estimates put the figure at just five to ten percent, and Green Party MEP Carl Schlyter says he is shocked at the numbers. Many of the animals are first drained of their blood before dying, and a growing share of the 75 percent are made up of animals killed according to the rules for kosher and halal meat, but Schlyter says much is also due to cost-cutting measures at slaughterhouses.

(source)

Libya: Refugees heading back in attempt to reach Europe

Libya: Refugees heading back in attempt to reach Europe

Via Geneva Lunch:

The UNHCR (UN High Commissioner for Refugees) in Geneva says it is seeing a disturbing new trend as growing numbers of refugees who fled Libya are heading back into the country in a desperate attempt to reach Europe.

One large group at risk for making the treacherous sea journey from Libya to Malta or Italy includes members of the Somali, Ethiopian and Eritrean communities in the camps at Shousha near Tunisia’s border with Libya.

(source)

Norway: Imam wins compensation for children beating accusations

Norway: Imam wins compensation for children beating accusations

Via VG (Norwegian):
In 2009 Imam Ghulam Nabi, of the Islamic Culture Society Buskerud & Vestfold, was accused of beating children with a cane during Koran studies. However, after some time, police dropped the charges.

The imam sued the state and will get 15,000 Kroner (~$2600) in compensation, reports Drammens Tidende.

His lawyer, Svein Duesund, says that the sum is too low, and is considering appealing. Duesund says that the police immediately went to the media, and that had it been a common Norwegian priest, the compensation would have been much higher. Duesund had demanded 100,000 kroner for his client.

Sweden: Few cases of genital mutilation are discovered

Sweden: Few cases of genital mutilation are discovered

Via SR:

Since female genital mutilation was explicitly banned in Sweden 30 years ago only nine cases have been discovered, according to a new report from Uppsala University.

An estimated 20 000 girls under 18 in Sweden, come from countries such as Somalia and Eritrea, where genital mutilation is common. But since the procedure was made criminal in 1982 only 46 cases have been reported. Out of those only nine have been confirmed and only two people have been convicted in court.

But according to Elis Envall, at the National Board of Health and Welfare, there are probably a lot more unknown cases.

(source)

UK: Sexual grooming of children far worse than thought, says minister

UK: Sexual grooming of children far worse than thought, says minister

Via the Guardian:

The sexual grooming of children in the UK is a much bigger problem than has previously been recognised, the government has said.

The children's minister, Tim Loughton, announced that an action plan will be launched to tackle child sexual exploitation, which experts say involves British children as young as 10 being trafficked for sex around the UK.

(...)

The government would not shy away from looking at whether certain ethnic groups in specific areas were more likely to be involved in sexual exploitation, he said. "If there has been a reluctance to [look at the problem] because of a fear of opening a can of worms, then we have to expose that. I don't care who the perpetrators are, they have to be exposed and brought to justice."

But he stressed that sexual exploitation was not confined to one ethnic group. "Operation Retriever [in Derby] centred on one specific ethnic group but in other areas there are different abusers of different ethnic groups. They can be white, middle-class abusers online - exploitation is not a BME [black and minority ethnic] monopoly," he said.

(source)

France: Sports minister sets up anti-racism body

France: Sports minister sets up anti-racism body

Via AFP:

French Sports Minister Chantal Jouanno on Monday announced the setting up of a committee to fight against discrimination in sports headed by former Olympic fencing champion Laura Flessel.

"We can't say whether discrimination is on the rise. In any case, they are being revealed more often," Jouanno said.

"Internet has freed speech and made discrimination more visible."

(source)

Admin: Missing posts

Admin: Missing posts

Thanks to Blogger and their blackout, some of my recent posts have been removed. I'll be posting them again, with yesterday's date.

Brussels: Vlaams Belang wants action against Muslim drivers who refuse to take dogs

Brussels: Vlaams Belang wants action against Muslim drivers who refuse to take dogs

Via HLN (Dutch):

Muslim taxi drivers in Brussels are increasingly refusing to take dogs, even assistance dogs, says Vlaams Belang. The party says that many of the taxi drivers in Brussels are Muslim.

The taxi drivers refuse dogs saying it's freedom of religion, but the law says that assistance dogs should be allowed in all public places, including taxis.

The party will raise these violations with the responsible minister, and says that taxi drivers who act so 'fundamentally' should have their license revoked.

Sweden: Court remands parents for 'honour' killing

Sweden: Court remands parents for 'honour' killing

Via the Local:

The Swedish Supreme Court has ruled to remand the parents of man convicted of a so-called "honour" killing in Högsby, southern Sweden in 2005, the first time it has issued a remand ruling since the 1980s.

The court's five justices ruled to proceed behind closed doors, shortly after commencing the hearing against the couple who are suspected of having murdered 20-year-old Abba Rezai in 2005.

Spain: Non-Spaniards put more into welfare state than they get out

Spain: Non-Spaniards put more into welfare state than they get out

Via ThinkSpain:

Immigrants contribute "much more" to the welfare state, especially in education, health and pensions, than they receive, since they now make up 12% of the poulation and yet only account for 5.6% of the use of these services.

This is the main conclusion of a study on "Immigration and the Welfare State in Spain" which has looked into the contribution made by non-Spaniards to the country's economic growth and the strength of the social security system, and the use they make of social services, concluding that they actually make a "positive net contribution".

(source)

Netherlands: Muslim MPs in a populist world

Netherlands: Muslim MPs in a populist world

Via RNW:

What is it like to be a Muslim MP in a parliament that also houses the well-known anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders? Radio Netherlands' John Tyler spoke to two MPs in just that situation.

Luxembourg: IFSB’s debut summit in Europe attracts widespread interest

Luxembourg: IFSB’s debut summit in Europe attracts widespread interest

Via ArabNews:

This year’s 8th annual summit of the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB), scheduled to be held at the New Conference Centre Kirchberg in Luxembourg on May 10-13, is already making an impact.

The summit, hosted by the Banque Centrale de Luxembourg, is attracting particular interest from the European Union in addition to the traditional markets in the Middle East and Asia.

The summit indeed will be held for the first time in a EU country and Luxembourg is threatening to overtake the UK and France in spearheading Islamic finance in Europe.

(source)

Helsinki: 'White Flight' from suburbs

Helsinki: 'White Flight' from suburbs

Via Helsingin Sanomat:

Native-born Finns have started to move out of suburbs in the greater Helsinki area, where the proportion of foreign-born residents is increasing. The trend is reflected in a sharp increase in residents speaking languages other than Finnish or Swedish.

In the Suvela area of Espoo the proportion of people speaking foreign languages has increased from 7.6 per cent in 2000 to 20.7 per cent in 2009.

Researchers have used the term “white flight” for the process in which the proportion of minorities in a neighbourhood grows through migration and births at the expense of that of the native population who start gravitating away from the areas.

(source)

Norway: MP calls to reduce Muslim immigration, limit immigrant benefits

Norway: MP calls to reduce Muslim immigration, limit immigrant benefits

Norwegian MP Christian Tybring-Gjedde spoke at the FrP national congress:

Speech by Christian Tybring-Gjedde (FrP) from Kadyra Rebel on Vimeo.

Germany: Jewish leader wants more tolerance towards Muslims, action against Islamic antisemitism

Germany: Jewish leader wants more tolerance towards Muslims, action against Islamic antisemitism

Via News.de (German) and Katholiek Nieuwsblad (Dutch):

Dieter Graumann, chairman of the Central Council of Jews, called for more religious tolerance towards Muslims in Germany. In an interview to magazine Christ & Welt he said it was wrong to suspect all Muslims, as most of them live in Germany peacefully and get along well with people of other religions.

France: Minister furious at racist remark

France: Minister furious at racist remark

UK: Morality police censoring bikini adverts

UK: Morality police censoring bikini adverts

Netherlands: 15 years for 'Koran murder'

Netherlands: 15 years for 'Koran murder'

Via AD (Dutch):

A court in the Dutch city of Breda sentenced a 24 year old from Tilburg to 15 years in prison for murdering his 38 year old roommate last May.

The man had first said he had been driven mad by the victim's loud music. He later said that the Koran told him what to do. He forced his roommate's door open and slit his throat.

Norway: Swedish al-Shabaab recruiters recruiting for Jihad

Norway: Swedish al-Shabaab recruiters recruiting for Jihad

Via VG (Norwegian):

At least five young Norwegian-Somalis were recruited to al-Shabaab in Somalia last year, reports Aftenposten, based on several independent sources. One of the recruits was killed in battle last March.

The Norwegian-Somali youth who went to Somalia were all recruited by recruiters from the Somali community in Sweden, reports Aftenposten. They looked for young boys in Norwegian mosques and offered them the assistance they needed to go and devote themselves to Jihad for al-Shabaab.

Recruitment is more systematic in Sweden, and over 30 people of Somali origin had been recruited there over the past two years.

The Norwegian Security Service PST is concerned about this development. Jon Fitje of the PST says that it's not dangerous when they go, but rather when they return and are able to carry out terror attacks. The trend is a negative one, when discussing the likelihood of terror attacks in Norway.

Denmark: Pakistani intelligence involved in planning Mohammed cartoon attack

Denmark: Pakistani intelligence involved in planning Mohammed cartoon attack

Via Politiken:

A high ranking officer in the Pakistani Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) agency was involved in planning a major terrorist attack against the Danish Jyllands-Posten newspaper, according to David Headley, a Pakistani-American who has admitted planning the terrorist attack in Mumbai in India in 2008.

Headley, who is currently in prison in Chicago, has further admitted that when he was arrested in November 2008 he was planning a new attack – this time against the Jyllands-Posten newspaper as a result of its publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

Headley was interrogated last summer by Indian intelligence officers. In a more than 100-page report that Politiken has obtained, Headley speaks in detail about a long list of meetings with Pakistani intelligence officers.

(source)

Athens: Mosque firebombed

Athens: Mosque firebombed

Via Kathimerini:

Unidentified vandals targeted a makeshift mosque in the neighborhood of Kallithea, southern Athens, early on [ed: last] Sunday, smashing the windows before dousing the interior with gasoline and setting it alight. The attack caused no injuries as there had been no one at the site of worship at the time but the damage caused to the premises was significant.

The arsonists also spray-painted swastika symbols on the walls of the mosque.

(source)

Brussels: Half of Muslim students are antisemitic

Brussels: Half of Muslim students are antisemitic

Via HLN, De Morgen, De Standaard, 'Jong in Brussel' (h/t R.):

Half of the Muslim students in Brussels are antisemitic, according to a study 'Jong in Brussel' by the Youth Research Platform. The chapter on antisemitism was written by sociologist Mark Elchardus of the VUB. The study was conducted by the universities of Ghent, Leuven and the Dutch-speaking VUB. It polled 2,837 students in 32 Dutch-speaking high schools in Brussels.

EU: CoE body on Islamophobia, Islamic terrorism and freedom of expression

EU: CoE body on Islamophobia, Islamic terrorism and freedom of expression

The The Group of Eminent Persons of the Council of Europe, chaired by Joschka Fischer, met in Brussels two months ago to discuss diversity in Europe. The result is a report titled "Living together in 21st century Europe", which addresses the fear of diversity. The report is rather expectable ('diversity is Europe's destiny'), and it manages to avoid discussing the meaning of nationality in Europe's nation-states but it does have an interesting take on the concept of Islamophobia (emphasis mine):

Kiev: Ukrainian and Russian Muslim and Jewish leaders pledge cooperation

Kiev: Ukrainian and Russian Muslim and Jewish leaders pledge cooperation

Via WJC:

Eighty Jewish and Muslim leaders from Ukraine and Russia have met in Kiev and pledged to work together to fight a rising cascade of Islamophobia and anti-Semitism in the two countries. In the first-ever meeting of Jews and Muslims to be held in the Ukrainian capital, leaders of the two communities in Ukraine and Russia heard chilling accounts of recent beatings and harassment of Muslims and Jews in the two former Soviet republics, desecration of Muslim and Jewish cemeteries and bombings and other attacks on communal institutions of the two faiths. The leaders pledged to work together to combat the forces of extremism and hate and to press authorities in both countries to take a more assertive stand in fighting perpetrators of Islamophobic and anti-Semitic attacks.

(source)

Ireland: 'Best place to assassinate President Obama'

Ireland: 'Best place to assassinate President Obama'

Via the Belfast Telegraph:

Police in Dublin are interrogating a 44-year-old Muslim convert in connection with alleged threats to kill US President Barack Obama.

The suspect, Khalid Kelly, who is a converted Muslim, made the alleged remarks in a Sunday newspaper article.

Mr Kelly was arrested at his home in Dublin's north inner city early yesterday and taken to a police station for questioning. He can be held in custody for up to three days without charge.

Born Terry Kelly, from the Liberties area of Dublin, he converted to Islam while serving a jail sentence in Saudi Arabia for illegally distilling and selling alcohol. He later travelled to Pakistan, where he claimed he trained with tribal warlords with the intention of going to Afghanistan.

(source)

EU: French far-right MP stripped of EU parliamentary immunity for anti-Islam statements

EU: French far-right MP stripped of EU parliamentary immunity for anti-Islam statements

Via AFP:

The European Parliament stripped parliamentary immunity from French far-right MEP Bruno Gollnisch on Tuesday, to enable a complaint of "incitement to racial hatred" to be investigated.

French authorities will now interview Gollnisch after asking for the move, following a complaint over an October 2008 press release issued by Rhone-Alpes regional authorities near Lyon, which Gollnisch led, that cited "the invasion of our land and the destruction of our culture and values" by Islam.

The International League against Racism and Anti-Semitism launched the complaint, and the European Parliament decided that, as the case related to Gollnisch's activities as a regional councillor, "applying parliamentary immunity to such a situation 'would constitute an undue extension of those rules'," a statement said.

(source)

Sweden: Church sold to Muslim group in display of "Christian love"

Sweden: Church sold to Muslim group in display of "Christian love"

Berlusconi: Right to build mosques is reciprocal

Berlusconi: Right to build mosques is reciprocal

Via AKI (Italian):

Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi said in a speech in Milan on Saturday that he has nothing against other religions, but that the right to build mosques depends on the reciprocal right to build churches in Muslim countries.

Regarding immigration, Berlusconi attacked the Left and said they have a strategy of letting in as many illegal immigrants as possible, in order to change the electoral balance.

Athens: Immigrants attacked in revenge for stabbing death

Athens: Immigrants attacked in revenge for stabbing death

Sweden: Schools at centre of new anti-racism efforts

Sweden: Schools at centre of new anti-racism efforts

Via the Local:

The Swedish government on Friday announced plans to step up its efforts to fight racism by appointing a special commission to survey xenophobia in the wake of electoral gains made by the anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats.

In announcing the appointment of former Liberal Party (Folkpartiet) leader Bengt Westerberg to head the commission, Sweden's integration minister Erik Ullenhag emphasised, however, the inquiry does not amount to an investigation of the Sweden Democrats.

"This isn't an investigation about or against the Sweden Democrats, but the need to combat xenophobia has increased since the Sweden Democrats entered the Riksdag," Ullenhag said during a press conference.

"We have a common responsibility to see that the forces for good stand up for tolerance."

(source)

Switzerland: More Swiss train in Islamic militant camps

Switzerland: More Swiss train in Islamic militant camps

Via SwissInfo (h/t Jihad Watch):

Defence Minister Ueli Maurer says there has been an increase in the recruitment of Muslims for militant training camps.

In an interview with the SonntagsZeitung newspaper, Maurer said the government was aware of Swiss who went to these training camps, and others who visited Koran schools.

He said the federal intelligence service had a good overview of Switzerland’s “Jihad fighters”, but refused to give any figures.

According to the intelligence service, a militant Islamic network was set up last year in Switzerland in order to find recruits who are sent to countries like Somalia and Yemen.

(source)

UK: Asian women subjected to 'virginity tests' at Heathrow

UK: Asian women subjected to 'virginity tests' at Heathrow

Via the Telegraph:

The government is facing calls for an official apology after documents showed that Asian women were subjected to humiliating “virginity tests” when they tried to move to Britain in the late 1970s.

At least 80 women from India and Pakistan hoping to emigrate to Britain to marry were intimately examined by immigration staff to “check their marital status”, according to confidential Home Office files.

The files show the practice was more common than previously thought.

(source)

France: Can Muslims be funny? And can they get on TV?

France: Can Muslims be funny? And can they get on TV?

Norway: Children’s school applicant advocates decapitation

Norway: Children’s school applicant advocates decapitation

Via the Foreigner:

Norwegian-Pakistani Imam Syed Farasat Ali Bukhari wants to educate people about Muslim customs and traditions.

Mr Bukhari, who believes punishing sinners with death, has applied to the government with others to found a Muslim primary school in Oslo.

Omitting this information from his application to the Directorate for Education and Training (Utdanningsdirektoratet), the Ministry of Education and Research’s executive body, he says in a YouTube video that, “A person who eats and drinks in public during Ramadan ridicules Islam”, reports NRK.

“Authorities shall decapitate the individual if he/she is within the jurisdiction of a Muslim society or state,” proclaims the Imam, believing jail or the same punishment applies to people who do not exercise their prayer obligation.

Labour (Ap) politician Marianne Aasen, chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Research, and Church Affairs, tells The Foreigner “his application will not be granted [now].”

(source)

Finland: True Finns Party chair scolds colleague for immigration statements (UPDATE: No crime)

Finland: True Finns Party chair scolds colleague for immigration statements

Sweden: Social Democrat ditches Muslim holiday plan

Sweden: Social Democrat ditches Muslim holiday plan

Via the Local:

Social Democrat party secretary Carin Jämtin has backtracked on the idea of giving Swedes a day off work to celebrate a Muslim holiday after her controversial proposal provoked a storm of criticism.

The newly appointed party secretary kick-started the debate when suggesting in a interview earlier this week that any review of Sweden's public holidays should consider making room for the Muslim celebration of Eid al-Fitr.

(...)

However, speaking to Sveriges Radio on Saturday, Jämtin said her party had no plans to conduct an overhaul of Sweden's current battery of public holidays.

"No, we don't want more holidays, and as such we don't want to make Eid a holiday either," said Jämtin. "We're fine with the holidays we have in Sweden. That's the view of the Social Democrats and that's what I intend to promote."

(source)

Antwerp: Immigrant youngsters compose a song for the police

Antwerp: Immigrant youngsters compose a song for the police

Via VRT:

In Boom (Antwerp province), three immigrant youngsters have composed a song which will be used as telephone waiting music for people calling the police. Two of them gave a live performance for the VRT. The initiative is remarkable, in times when police are stepping up efforts to tackle nuisance youngsters.

The three, Bisljimi Omer, Usein Kemal and Osmani Fazli, are of Yugoslavian origin.

EU: Muslims and Jews to denounce extremist parties on Europe Day

EU: Muslims and Jews to denounce extremist parties on Europe Day

Via EJP:

Jews and Muslim leaders in France, Britain and several other countries across Europe are to held joint initiatives to denounce extremist parties and oppose racism and prejudice, on the occasion of Europe Day (9 May).

They stand in united opposition to prejudiced and racist appeals being increasingly injected into European body politic by extremist political movements and also oppose pandering to those movements by some political leaders who in recent months have made speeches lamenting the failure of multiculturalism in their respective countries.

This Europe-wide interfaith initiative was set in motion last December at the first gathering of European Muslim and Jewish leaders in Brussels.

(source)

Denmark: Failed integration of Blågård church Palestinians

Denmark: Failed integration of Blågård church Palestinians

(photo: Palestinians celebrating outside Blågård church, 1992)

Chechnya: Top Al-Qaeda envoy killed

Chechnya: Top Al-Qaeda envoy killed

(photo)

Odense: Armed confrontation between Kurds and Somalis

Odense: Armed confrontation between Kurds and Somalis

Via Avisen (Danish):

Several shots were fired in a confrontation between Kurds and Somalis Sunday evening in the Danish city of Odense.

The local police was called out to the Vollsmose district where they heard the shots and found several casings on the street and a hunting rifle in a bush.

Deputy police inspector Kirsten Fischer told Newspaq that there were some clashes over the weekend which culminated in the shooting Sunday, but it's probably personal and has nothing to do with gangs.

A 22 year old Somali man was later arrested and charged with attempted manslaughter. Kirsten Fischer says that they believe there's more to it and that they don't have much time to interrogate people and find out what the conflict was about.

France: Burqa ban sees 27 offences recorded

France: Burqa ban sees 27 offences recorded

Via the Connexion:

FRANCE'S burqa ban has seen 27 offences recorded since it was brought into force.

The law bans people from covering their faces in public spaces, effectively outlawing the burqa and niqab Islamic dresses.

A report from the Interior Ministry says on average one or two women a day have been given verbal cautions since the ban began on April 11.

(source)

Norway: Increase in share of immigrants receiving cash benefits

Norway: Increase in share of immigrants receiving cash benefits

Via VG (Norwegian)

The ratio of immigrants among the recipients of cash benefits, given to parents whose infant children do not go to kindergarten, increased significantly in recent years. In March they made up a third of the total recipients, according to data provided to TV 2 by NAV (Norwegian Labour and Welfare Service).

Altogether there were 35,629 recipients: 23,136 were Norwegian and 12,493 were either born in another country or had foreign citizenship. NAV says that 2,045 of the recipients in March were Polish, followed by Somalians (1,204), Iraq (840) and Pakistan (802).

While the ratio of children who received support fell from 74% to 27%, 74% of children with Pakistani parents received such support in the fall of 2009.

Child Ombudsman Reidar Hjermann is concerned that cash benefits are becoming so common for immigrants and warns against increasing it.

"It's a problem if parents with immigrant background avoid kindergartens more than other parents because of cash benefits. Children who don't speak Norwegian at home, need to be in kindergarten more than other children, as it's an engine for integration and a place where you learn Norwegian quickly," says Hjermann.

CR: Six arrested for operating base for Caucasus terrorists

CR: Six arrested for operating base for Caucasus terrorists

Via the Moscow Times:

Four Russians and two Bulgarians suspected of supporting a militant group operating in Dagestan have been arrested in the Czech Republic, police said Tuesday.

The six are suspected of providing fake documents, ammunition and weapons to the Jamaat Shariat group, said police spokesman Pavel Hantak. Two other suspects are being held in Germany, and Hantak said the investigation is still under way.

Also known as Dagestani Front, Jamaat Shariat is a small group of Islamist militants active in Dagestan as part of the Caucasus Imarat — a loose alliance of separatists operating in the Caucasus region.

The six foreigners taken into custody in Prague and other areas of the Czech Republic were arrested during April 6 police raids that also seized fake bank notes and documents, drugs, ammunition and weapons including machine guns, Hantak said.

(source)

Denmark: High court overrules district court in case about comments about Muslim men

Denmark: High court overrules district court in case about comments about Muslim men

Via the Copenhagen Post:

The Eastern High Court today fined Lars Hedegaard, the president of the Free Press Society, 5,000 kroner for making racially offensive comments in December 2009.

“Girls in Muslim families are raped by their uncles, their cousins, or their fathers,” and “When a Muslim man rapes a woman, it is in his right to do so,” were among the comments Hedegaard made during a 35-minute interview at a Christmas party with the author of the blog snaphanen.dk, who subsequently published the comments on the blog.

Today’s decision overturns a decision in January by the Frederiksberg District Court, which stated that while it found Hedegaard’s comments to be insulting, Hedegaard did not know that his controversial comments would be made public.

Last week Hedegaard published a book titled “Muhammeds Piger” (Mohammed’s Girls), in which he writes about issues such as discrimination in Islam and that the belief in predestination.

(source)

Sweden: Proposal for public Muslim holiday

Sweden: Proposal for public Muslim holiday

Via SR:

One of the leaders of the Social Democrats says that Sweden should bring in a public holiday based on one of the Muslim holy days.

Carin Jämtin is the Secretary General of the Social Democrat Party. Speaking to broadsheet Svenska Dagbladet she says that, since almost all of Sweden's public celebrations are based on the Christian calendar, one of them should be swapped with an event that reflects modern Sweden's cultural make-up.

(source)

OT: US forces kill Osama bin-Laden in Pakistan

OT: US forces kill Osama bin-Laden in Pakistan

France: Anger at football race quota claims

France: Anger at football race quota claims

Via the Connexion:

CLAIMS that French football bosses want to cut the number of blacks and Arabs in Les Bleus have prompted sports minister Chantal Jouanno to demand an explanation.

News website Mediapart said it had information Fédération Française de Football officials had discussed limiting the number of black and Arab players being recruited to elite training schools to 30%.

There were claims of a lack of “national identity” in the French squad after the shame of the “strike” and then exit from last year’s world cup. National officials were said to be reacting to a widespread problem of young players with dual-nationality.

Mediapart reported FFF officials had secretly approved unofficial quotas as, the website claimed, “there were too many blacks, too many Arabs and not enough white players in French football”.

(source)

Belgium: Parliament votes for veil ban (again)

Belgium: Parliament votes for veil ban (again)

Via VRT:

Late yesterday, the House of Representatives of the Belgian Federal Parliament overwhelmingly voted in favour of introducing legislation that bans the burqa-type Islamic dress in public. The bill was approved by a majority of 136-1 and only had two abstentions.

Actually, the Lower House had already approved the bill about one year ago, but the process was held up at the last moment when the government coalition collapsed. In order to avoid legal problems, the Lower House of the federal caretaker government of Yves Leterme (Flemish Christian democrat) voted once again.

(source)