Sweden: Court rules naked Muhammad pics legal

Sweden: Court rules naked Muhammad pics legal

Via The Local:

A Swedish court has ruled that depicting the prophet Muhammad naked together with his nine-year-old wife naked is legal, freeing a local politician on charges of racial agitation.

Malmö district court has ruled that the poster does not fall foul of press freedom legislation and confirmed a not guilty ruling from March 3rd in favour of Carl P Herslow, leader of the Skåne Party (Skånepartiet) who faced charges of agitation against an ethnic group (hets mot folkgrupp).

The poster included the text: 'He is 53 and she is nine. Is this the kind of wedding we want to see in Skåne?'.

(source)

Belgium: Court rules Flemish schools may ban headscarves

Belgium: Court rules Flemish schools may ban headscarves

Via VRT:

Belgium's Constitutional Court has ruled that the official Flemish Community schools network has the right to decide for itself whether the Moslem headscarf or other religious symbols may be worn in their schools.

However, it is another body, the Council of State, which will have the final say.

(source)

Oslo: Municipality teaches Muslims about Sharia law in the job-market

Oslo: Municipality teaches Muslims about Sharia law in the job-market

Translated from TV2 Nyhetene:

Since 2009, the city of Oslo offers courses for long-term unemployed Muslim adults who find it difficult to get a job due to conflicts with their religion. In 2009, 128 people participated in the qualifications course and 130 employees attended the 'work and Islam' day, special consultant Ole-Kristian Honerud of the Health and Welfare Department told tv2nyhetene.no. Honerud says they're thinking of focusing on mosques this year, since that way they're reach more people.

Copenhagen: A tricky life for non-Europeans

Copenhagen: A tricky life for non-Europeans

Via Deutsche Welle:

In the Danish capital, Copenhagen, a recent spate of immigrant gang violence has shone a bright light on the place of foreigners in the country. Many non-Danes, particularly those from the Middle East and North Africa, say an in-built antagonism towards them is growing.

The Norrebro neighborhood in the northwest of the city is known as the main immigrant area of town. Metropolitan Copenhagen has just under two million inhabitants, around 15 percent of whom are non-European, and the majority of them live here.

Most of the women walking the streets wear Muslim headscarves, and many of the men have long, full beards and traditional Muslim Taqiyah caps. The area is rundown compared to the rest of this impressive city. Buildings have been poorly maintained, and most shops cater to Muslim customers.

Bosnia: Serbs wanted to expel Muslims, witness tells UN court

Bosnia: Serbs wanted to expel Muslims, witness tells UN court

Via AKI:

A witness for the prosecution at the trial of wartime Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic told the United Nations war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia on Tuesday that the strategy of Bosnian Serbs was to create an ethnically clean territory by expelling Muslims and Croats in 1992-1995 Bosnian war.

Anthony Banberry, who served with UN peacekeepers in Bosnia, told the court Karadzic had absolute power among Bosnian Serbs and his forces carried out the strategy of ethnic cleansing on the ground.

(...)

Banberry said he had heard Karadzic saying that “Serbs had lived for 500 years with Muslims, but not any more”. To achieve that, Bosnian Serb forces shelled the capital Sarajevo and expelled non-Serbs from the territories they wanted for themselves, he said.

(source)

Stockholm: Imam threatened for working in Christian youth center

Stockholm: Imam threatened for working in Christian youth center

France: 2.1 million Muslims (aged 18-50)

France: 2.1 million Muslims (aged 18-50)

Translated from La Croix:

There are 2.1 million 'declared Muslims' aged 18-50 in France, far less than certain estimates advanced in the public debate, according to a new study by the National Institute of Demographic Studies (INED) and the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE). The joint study on the diversity of populations in France, was published in October under the title "Trajectories and Origins". In France, a country which bans religious or ethnic statistics, it's usually estimated that there are 5-6 million Muslims.

Norway: Queen hosted by Muslims for Tea Time

Norway: Queen hosted by Muslims for Tea Time

France: Muslim org asks to use empty churches

France: Muslim org asks to use empty churches

Via Banlieues Respect:

Religious leaders, politicians and heads of banlieue organizations met last Thursday at the initiative of the national federation of the Paris Mosque, the Council of Democratic Muslims in France and the Banlieues Respect Collective in order to decide on action against the planned debate on secularism and Islam.

Banlieues Respect says that such a debate will lead to laws stigmatizing Muslims, and in the spirit of inter-religious solidarity, asks the Church of France to make its empty churches available for Friday prayer, so that Muslims won't pray in the streets and be held hostage by politicians.

Netherlands: MP calls for public servants headscarf ban

Netherlands: MP calls for public servants headscarf ban

Via RNW (h/t Islamophobia Watch):

MP Jeanine Hennis from the ruling free-market liberal party VVD is calling for a ban on wearing Muslim headscarves by public servants who work at town halls. The politician says that all religions are equal in her eyes and that the ban should include all religious symbols.

Ms Hennis made her comments during an interview with freesheet De Pers. “When do you wear the headscarf? I’d like to instigate a debate on the matter - an open discussion on the separation between church and state,” she said. The VVD MP said she’d also like universities and schools to participate in the debate but that the Christian parties stand in the way of bringing the subject into the open. “They regard it as an infringement on freedom of religion,” she added.

(source)