Showing posts with label Location: Poland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Location: Poland. Show all posts

Poland: Agriculture minister says he won’t ban religious slaughter

Poland: Agriculture minister says he won’t ban religious slaughter

Via JTA (h/t Al-Kanz):
Poland's minister of agriculture said he will not bow to activists and ban ritual slaughter in the country.

Polish Agricultural Minister Marek Sawicki said May 16 that banning ritual slaughter would be contrary to the Polish Constitution, which guarantees freedom of religion.

"Under European Union law, ritual slaughter is acceptable and there is no reason to prohibit it," Sawicki also said. 
(source)

Poland: Thugs attack Turkish kebab shop

Poland: Thugs attack Turkish kebab shop

 

Via The Austrian Times:
Black and Asian England football fans at next month's Euro 2012 are at risk from racist thugs in host country Poland after a series of attacks on ethnic fast food eateries, police fear.
In one attack - filmed on CCTV - the white thugs are seen beating the Turkish-born owners of a kebab shop in Opole with sticks and a chair in a frenzied attack.
(source)

Poland: Poster apologizing for anti-Saudi sentiments

Poland: Poster apologizing for anti-Saudi sentiments

A poster in the town of Olsztyn, put up after anti-Arab posters were posted on the homes of Saudi students (see here and here)

Poland: Pizza delivery boy left hate notes to immigrants

Poland: Pizza delivery boy left hate notes to immigrants

Via the Austrian Times:
A pizza delivery boy who left racist notes inside boxes he took to customers he thought were immigrants is facing three years in jail, say prosecutors in Olsztyn, Poland.

Lukasz Miechowicz, 25, left hate notes saying "Choke and Die" or "Get Out of Mt F***ing Country" whenever he made a delivery to a home where he thought Asian or Arabic people were living.

(source)

Warsaw: Legia 'Jihad' at Europa League match

Warsaw: Legia 'Jihad' at Europa League match

Jihad banner displayed by the non-Muslim fans of Legia Warszawa

Krakow: “Muslims should feel as comfortable in Poland as they do in their native countries"

Krakow: “Muslims should feel as comfortable in Poland as they do in their native countries"

Via the Krakow Post:
Experts on Islam and Muslim activists came together for a panel at the Joseph Tischner European University in Krakow in July to share personal stories of the Muslim experience in Poland, and how it is changing with the influence of the Arab Spring.

Prague: Central European Muslim leaders lament restrictive legislation, media bias

Prague: Central European Muslim leaders lament restrictive legislation, media bias

Via Radio Prague:
Muslim leaders from the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia came to Prague on Tuesday to share their experiences and to discuss the challenges faced by their communities. The numbers of the Muslim populations in their countries vary significantly, as do their historic backgrounds. But the debate showed that some challenges are shared by Muslims across the region: islamophobia, media bias, and severe legislative restrictions.

(source + podcast)

Poland: Grand Mufti declares suicide bombings ‘haram’, offers to mediate in Pakistan

Poland: Grand Mufti declares suicide bombings ‘haram’, offers to mediate in Pakistan

I think this is the first time that a European Muslim says radicalism and terrorism in the Muslim world should be dealt with since they reflect back on European Muslims. Or in other words, that Muslim terrorism is cause for 'Islamophobia'.

Poland: Church observes ‘Islam Day’

Poland: Church observes ‘Islam Day’

Via News from Poland:
Poland’s Roman Catholic Church is observing Islam Day, which closes the week of ‘Prayer for Christian Unity’.

The main ceremonies are being held in St. Florian’s church in Warsaw and will gather Catholics and Muslims today at a meeting devoted to ways of overcoming violence between various religious denominations.

(source)

Netherlands: Shariah4Holland

Netherlands: Shariah4Holland


A new group sprung up a few days ago on YouTube: Shariah4Holland. Abu Imran, the founder of Sharia4Belgium, posted a clip announcing the new group and asking Queen Beatrix to convert to Islam.

The channel also has a message from Sharia4Bangladesh, supporting Shariah4Holland, Shariah4Poland and Shariah4Denmark. The last two groups don't yet exist online.

Poland: Forum told ignorance, economy fuel bias against Islam

Poland: Forum told ignorance, economy fuel bias against Islam

Via M&C:
The current economic crisis and the ignorance of some Western scholars are fueling prejudices against Islam, participants said at a conference in Poland Friday.

The daylong conference in the western Polish city of Wroclaw considered the media portrayal of Islam, attitudes towards Muslim immigrants in France and the perception of Muslims in the former Soviet Union.

Warsaw: Muslims in Europe - a wealth of diversity or a source of conflict?

Warsaw: Muslims in Europe - a wealth of diversity or a source of conflict?

The problem with such conferences is that the answer is already obvious.

Via PR:
A two day conference devoted to Muslims in Europe is being held in Warsaw, organized by the European Islamic Institute at Warsaw University.

(...)

A key element of the “Muslims in Europe- a wealth of diversity or a source of conflict?” conference aims to show that Islam should not be identified with terrorism.

“Terrorism can be found in many places and perpetrated by those from all religions. It is vital that we refrain from identifying it exclusively with Islam,” said Anna Parzymies from the Islamic Centre in Warsaw.

(more)

Warsaw: Demonstration against new mosque

Warsaw: Demonstration against new mosque

See also: Poland: New mosque being built with Saudi financing


A Polish group calling itself "Europe for the Future" has refashioned a Swiss poster against minarets to demand a halt in the construction of a new mosque in the capital of mainly Catholic Poland.


In the posters, seen in several parts of Warsaw Wednesday, the Swiss flag is replaced with a Polish one and wording that translates into "stop the mosque of the radicals".


Switzerland voted in a referendum in November to ban the construction of new minarets, a move that drew criticisms worldwide including charges of Islamophobia.


The Polish poster called for a demonstration on Saturday at the site of the mosque and cultural centre under construction near the centre of Warsaw, and described as "radical" the Muslim League of Poland building it.


"The mosque and the centre of Muslim culture are financed by Saudi Arabia, a country which violates human rights and where the mere possession of a Bible constitutes a crime," the association said.


In a petition address to the mayor of Warsaw, the group called for "an immediate halt to the work".



Muslim League president Samir Ismail said the protests were inspired by individuals who were "sowing hate".



"It will not be a classic mosque," he said in the Gazeta Wyborcza daily Wednesday. "It will be a cultural centre open to Muslims and non-Muslims. Arabic courses will be organised there and courses in Polish for children of diplomats."



(more)

Source: Expatica (English), photo

Poland: Tiny Muslim Tatar community taps deep roots

Poland: Tiny Muslim Tatar community taps deep roots

For more on the Tatars see:
* Poland: Muslims thrive in tiny community
* Ukraine: Tatars face problems building mosque
* Lithuania: Tatar Muslims face new immigrants
* Russia: Islam flourishes

Tucked in a tiny village, the small wooden building looks just like any other house of worship dotted across the Polish countryside.


But three crescents mark it out as a mosque, and a rare footprint of Islam in this overwhelmingly Catholic nation of 38.5 million people.



Kruszyniany is home to the descendants of Muslim Tatars who came here three centuries ago.


The village of 160 people on the Belarussian border played host Tuesday to Britain's Prince Charles, on an official visit to Poland.



The mosque lacks the minaret typical of Islamic architecture.


But there is little need for a muezzin to call the faithful to prayer -- Kruszyniany is now home to just four Tatar families, or 10 people, living among Catholic and Orthodox neighbours.



At the end of World War II, some 300 lived here. Although their community has shrunk over time as youngsters moved away seeking better opportunities, Kruszyniany remains a spiritual home for Poland's 5,000 Tatars.



"We're descended from the Tatars of Kazan, who were the successors of the Tatars of the Golden Horde," said Mustafa Jasinski, proudly, referring to ancestors with roots in Asia.



At 99, he is the oldest member of the community.



He is also the imam of Bialystok, a city of some 295,000 people, 40 kilometres (25 miles) west of Kruszyniany and home to most of Poland's Tatars.



On Friday, the Muslim holy day, Jasinski dons his robes and leads prayers in Bialystok's Islamic centre, a former city library.



The sermon is in Polish, although the verses of the Koran and the prayers are in Arabic. A curtain separates male and female worshippers.



"The youngsters are at work on Fridays," said Halina Szachidewicz, one of a handful of retirees at a recent service there.



Fellow-worshipper Lila Smolska, in her seventies, added: "I pray in Polish in my heart and recite the prayers in Arabic, the ones our grandparents taught us."



(...)


"The Tatars married Polish women, but their children kept to the Muslim religion and Tatar customs," said cemetery-keeper Dzemil Gembicki, 35, whose dark, almond-shaped eyes give away his roots.



"My wife is Catholic, and we decided that our boys will be Muslims and our girls Catholics," said Gembicki, whose spouse is pregnant with their first child.


Tatars from across Poland still chose Kruszyniany as their last resting place, and the graveyard is a visible trace of their adaptation.



On the headstones in Polish, the names mix Islamic tradition and local style. Szachidewicz, for example, with its classic Polish "icz", is derived from "shaheed", Arabic for witness, or martyr, of the faith.



"Other names are typically Polish, taken from a village or the name of a Polish wife," said Gembicki, whose mother's family name Poplawski masked Tatar roots dating back to 1679.



Dzenneta Bogdanowicz runs a guesthouse serving Tatar cuisine, which Prince Charles was treated to.



"I feel Polish first, then Tatar, then Muslim," she said



Source: France24 (English), Wikipedia

Poland: New mosque being built with Saudi financing (UPDATED)

Poland: New mosque being built with Saudi financing

Update: More on the Polish Muslim League and its ties to the Muslim Brotherhood at the Global MB Report.


The Muslim League in Poland is building a modern, three-story mosque near the centre of Warsaw.



The Centre of Islamic Culture, designed by KAPS Architekci, will be located in the close vicinity of the Blue City shopping centre, at the Zeslancow Syberyjskich roundabout just to the west of the city centre.



The three-story building will have an 18-metre high minaret. But the characteristic sound of prayer will not be heard drifting over the city.



“A muezin’s call for prayer will be heard only in a prayer room, not outside,” says Samir Ismail, head of the Muslim League in Poland. Apart from a prayer room, the centre will consist of a library with a multimedia room, art gallery, restaurant, café and shop. “We will pray there and make Poles aware that Islam is a moderate religion,” says Ismail.



The construction of the mosque will be mainly financed by a Saudi investor but the League does not want to reveal who it is or what the cost of the investment will be.



(more)


Source: TheNews (English)

Poland: Euro 2012 al-Qaeda plot thwarted

Poland: Euro 2012 al-Qaeda plot thwarted

Anti-terror police have thwarted an Al-Qaeda plot to bomb the 2012 Euro football tournament in Poland, it has emerged. The secret operation - codenamed 'Stand' and carried out by Poland's equivalent of MI5 and MI6 - kept track of a suspected terror cell for more than four years after a tip-off from the CIA, reports Polish news magazine Angora.


Secret service chiefs believe the sleeper cell was planning to blow up an entire stadium of fans at the height of the tournament, being co-hosted by Poland and the Ukraine. It was planned as one of the Islamic terror network's most spectacular attacks, to be carried out live on TV in front of a world wide audience of millions.


At first terror experts knew only that the cell planned a "major offensive" in Europe but intercepted messages that showed the tournament was going to be the target. The terrorists were allowed to plant their explosives during refurbishment works on a stadium in Poland before being arrested and held by para-military units.


Source: Austrian Times (English)