Moscow: High-ranking Interior Ministry officials suspected of extortion from Muslim community

Moscow: High-ranking Interior Ministry officials suspected of extortion from Muslim community

Via Interfax:

Federal Security Service officials have submitted to the Prosecutor General's Office materials stating that several high-ranking officials from the Interior Ministry's Main Department for the Prevention of Extremism extorted a large amount of money from a Moscow Muslim community, Kommersant daily reports.

"The Federal Security Service officers obtained information that a major extortion incident had occurred in the Moscow Lefortovsky market before the New year holidays. According to that information, a group of police officers went to the market under the pretext of an inspection, suspended the market's operation and demanded 1 million rubles from traders for permission to resume work," Kommersant writes.

(...)

According to Kommersant, the police said they were checking reports stating that there was an illegal extremist center disguised as a prayer room at the market, which was visited by Muslim traders and Tajik workers from nearby construction sites.

(source)

UK: Muslim teenager 'hit for kissing white man'

UK: Muslim teenager 'hit for kissing white man'

Via the BBC:

A Muslim teenager from Hampshire was kidnapped, imprisoned and had her hair cut off after her siblings saw her kiss a white man, a court has heard.

Winchester Crown Court heard Shamima Akhtar, 18, was attacked by her family in Basingstoke in April of last year. The prosecution said the case was about "honour-based domestic violence".

Her sisters Nazira, 29, and Nadiya, 25, and brother Kayum Mohammed-Abdul, 24, deny kidnap, false imprisonment and causing actual bodily harm.

(source)

London: Youth jail inmates converting to Islam for protection, easier lifestyle

London: Youth jail inmates converting to Islam for protection, easier lifestyle

Via the Daily Mail:

A third of inmates at one of Britain’s most notorious youth jails are Muslims and the religion is attracting a large number of converts.

(...)

‘The popularity of the faith has surprised people. We are seeing a large number of inmates converting to Islam.'

He added: ‘There is a difference between mainstream believers and extremists, but the fear is that some in the jail are being radicalised.

'Others convert for protection or to have what they believe is an easier lifestyle.’

(source)

Belgium: Muslim Executive asks mosques to shelter homeless

Belgium: Muslim Executive asks mosques to shelter homeless

Via HLN (Dutch)

On Wednesday the Muslim Executive asked Belgian mosques to open their doors to the homeless and others in need during the cold wave.

The Executive was responding to a request of Brussels MP Fouad Ahidar (sp.a), who said he was very happy that the Muslim Executive took responsibilty to take care for the victims of the cold wave.

Ahidar also called the Brussels authorities to use MIVB buses to transport the homeless to shelters.

Germany: Government aims to hire more minorities

Germany: Government aims to hire more minorities

Via the Local:

Chancellor Angela Merkel's government has unveiled a formal programme designed to increase the number of minorities in public service, calling integration “more urgent than ever.”

Merkel announced a “National Action Plan” at an integration summit in Berlin on Tuesday where more than 100 federal, state and provincial officials gathered to discuss how to attract more people from minority backgrounds into government service.

Although roughly 20 percent of people in Germany are considered to be foreigners or of minority background - but they make up only about 10 percent of public service positions.

(source)

Finland: Immigrant youths particularly prone to marginalisation

Finland: Immigrant youths particularly prone to marginalisation

Via YLE:

Immigrant youths are particularly prone to marginalisation, says Finnish Business and Policy Forum EVA. According to the think tank’s study, education is paramount for preventing exclusion from society.

“Over a quarter of marginalised youths have foreign backgrounds. Their entry into Finland’s education and labour markets is four or five times more difficult than for their native Finnish counterparts,” says Pekka Myrskylä, Head of Development at Statistics Finland’s Population Statistics Department, who compiled the report for EVA.

(source)

UK: Three terror cells planned Mumbai-style attack

UK: Three terror cells planned Mumbai-style attack

Netherlands: Minister says imams should speak out against homophobia

Netherlands: Minister says imams should speak out against homophobia

Via spitsnieuws (Dutch):

Education Minister Van Bijsterveldt says all imams in the Netherlands should jointly speak against homophobic violence and support respecting gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgenders.

"I would really appreciate it if they do that, just like Christian churches did not so long ago," she said yesterday during a meeting of SMN (Alliance of Moroccan-Dutch) in Utrecht. The minister said it would be a strong signal that everyone can be part of the Muslim community, regardless of sexual orientation, origin or culture.

Brussels: Israeli minister speaks with EU officials about combating Muslim antisemitism

Brussels: Israeli minister speaks with EU officials about combating Muslim antisemitism

A New Beginning for Muslims in Europe?

A New Beginning for Muslims in Europe?

Via the Boston College Chronicle:

Western Europe hardly seems a model for harmonious relations between Muslim minorities and the non-Muslim societies in which they reside. Controversies have flared recently over the wearing of burkas in public, construction of mosques, and an ironic suggestion from a French ex-political official that his fellow Muslims wear green stars.

But Associate Professor of Political Science Jonathan Laurence tells a different story in his new book, The Emancipation of Europe’s Muslims: The State’s Role in Minority Integration. During the past two decades, he says, European countries have stepped up efforts to integrate Muslims into the institutional, political, and cultural fabrics of European democracy. Foremost among such initiatives has been the government-led creation of Islamic Councils to help resolve public disputes over Islamic practices.

(source)