Yemen: Frenchmen, Briton suspected of al-Qaeda links

Yemen: Frenchmen, Briton suspected of al-Aaeda links

Yemeni security forces have arrested more than 30 foreign nationals on suspicion of having links with Al-Qaeda, among them three Frenchmen, an American and a Briton, a security official said on Sunday.

France: Muslim council will not act as gov't agents

France: Muslim council will not act as gov't agents

France's official Muslim council has warned the government not to expect it to impose a planned ban on full face veils for women that legal experts argue will be unconstitutional and police predict will be unenforceable.

Germany: Religious Muslim youth more violent

Germany: Religious Muslim youth more violent

A study conducted by the German authorities has found that the more devout young Muslims become, the more prone to violence they get. The study says the phenomenon is not due to Islam itself, but to the way it is taught.

Cyrpus: "Muslims are our brothers"

Cyrpus: "Muslims are our brothers"


A day after Cypriot religious and political leaders lashed out at Turkey, whose troops have occupied northern Cyprus since 1974, Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday met briefly with a Muslim religious leader from the Turkish North.

Brussels: If Israel goes into Gaza, we'll have riots that evening

Brussels: If Israel goes into Gaza, we'll have riots that evening

Glenn Audenaert, chief of Federal Judiciary Police, interviewed on Phara, June 4th, 2010 (~42:00), via Luc Van Braekel's blog.

Cardiff: WDL demo, taxi driver strike

Cardiff: WDL demo, taxi driver strike

Two men and a woman have been arrested in rival demonstrations held in Cardiff.

About 500 anti-fascist protesters marched from Cardiff Bay to City Hall in opposition to a demonstration by the Welsh Defence League (WDL).

WDL organisers said their estimated 200-strong demonstration was against Islamic extremism.

Oslo: Little girls in hijab

Oslo: Little girls in hijab

Starting from age 5 or 6, more and more little Norwegian girls are being sent to school with a hijab.

The Muslim headgear which covers the hair, is becoming a more common sight in elementary schools in Oslo, also in the 5-10 age group.

Opinion: Does Turkey want to be an empire?

Opinion: Does Turkey want to be an empire?


Over the past few months, reporting on Turkish PM announcements in Europe, I've noticed a certain trend, which led to a nagging question: Does Turkey dream of being an empire again?

Denmark: Flotilla attack dominating issue for Muslims, Jews

Denmark: Flotilla attack dominating issue for Muslims, Jews

Update: Typo fix. Last paragraph says 'state of Israel', not 'state of Islam'.


Israel's attack on a Turkish aid ship, where nine were killed, has made an impression on both Danish Jews and Muslims.

The conflict will dominate Friday prayers in the country's mosques and the serve in the Jewish synagogue in Copenhagen.

Nuremberg: German butchers, halal meat

Nuremberg: German butchers, halal meat

They have age-old Franconian names, eat sausage rolls for breakfast and worship on Sundays. But the Bärlein-Denterlein family of Nuremberg are butchers who follow strict Islamic codes. They've long been one of the biggest producers of döner kebab meat in northern Bavaria.

This article was prepared by the Islam in Europe blog - islamineurope.blogspot.com

By the city hall subway station in Fürth, three old men stand in front of a small fast-food stand, drinking tea and chatting in Turkish. Behind the sticker-plastered window a young man sharpens two giant knives in front of colossal cones of meat slowly rotating on spits, the makings of that king of fast food in Germany: the döner kebab.

It's a scene that can be witnessed at thousands of similar mini-restaurants across Germany, particularly in Berlin or in the Ruhr Valley. But this one is slightly different. One of the stickers on the window reads: "Quality meat from Bärlein-Denterlein." An age-old Franconian name on a traditional Turkish Imbiss (snack bar)? The incongruity is like finding a Chinese restaurant called "Acropolis."

The name remains a mystery even after a few inquiries. The slaughterhouse is a "Muslim business under Christian operation," it is said. Further investigation leads one to the industrial area of Neustadt, a town 45 minutes northwest of Nuremberg in northern Bavaria. Above an entrance is the firm's insignia: an ornamented ox head. It looks like a logo for any other Teutonic slaughterhouse. But the family business has long earned a large portion of its revenue from Turkish and Kurdish immigrants. Ninety-five percent of the slaughterhouse's business goes to döner kebab stands and Turkish supermarkets in the area.

(...)

Musa, who works with Ömer and Osman as butchers in the slaughterhouse, has long finished his day's work. Before he kills an animal, he says a short prayer -- a single one for each animal. Mostly it's the same sentence: "Bismillahi Allahu Akbar" (In the name of Allah, Allah is great).

"Just as Muslim ritual prescribes," says Bärlein-Denterlein. "Many think that the Koran only requires that animals be butchered in a certain way," he says. "But what's important is the prayer toward Mecca. A lot of Muslims don't know that."

Bärlein-Denterlein knows the direction of Mecca from Neustadt. Recently, during Eid al-Adha -- a Muslim holiday commemorating Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son -- a few customers rolled out their prayer mats in the neighboring garden. Since then, he knows that when you look directly out the slaughterhouse's front door, you look toward Mecca.

Aside from the ritual prayers, the business works for Islamic correctness in other ways. If calves, lambs and cows take their last steps at the Bärlein-Denterlein shop, chicken parts arrive pre-butchered every day at 3 a.m. And the most popular slaughtered meat in Germany -- pork -- is taboo for Muslims, so the business that courts them keeps its distance, too.

Privately, of course, Bärlein-Denterlein lives like most Germans in Franconia. "In our home, everyone eats bratwurst in a roll or sausage for breakfast. Our Muslim employees accept that as well." What they wouldn't accept is for halal meat to come in contact with pork. "That's why we don't slaughter pigs," he says. "One can't entirely rule out that a knife trimming a döner would still have traces of pig's blood."


Despite such diligence, the Bärlein-Denterleins often straddle two cultures. One day a number of Turkish Muslims appeared in front of the door wanting proof that no pigs were slaughtered on the site. A little later they left satisfied. But there were also German animal-rights activists who harassed the business over cruelty to animals. "Once they were convinced that the animals were anesthetized before the slaughter, they quickly laid down their guns," says Bärlein-Denterlein.

(more)

Source: Spiegel (English)