France
France’s Muslim leadership reacts to Tariq Ramadan detention
When accusations against Tariq Ramadan became public last fall, the French Council of the Muslim Faith’s (CFCM) president Ahmet Ogras hoped that “justice [would be] served quickly.” Three months later, France’s Muslim leadership has rarely spoken publicly about Ramadan. Amar Lasfar, president of the Muslims of France (formerly UOIF), whose organization is affiliated with the…
Muslim public express anger following pork substitute ban in French school
Muslim and Jewish students in the small French town of Beaucaire will no longer be able to request pork-free school meals, according to a new rule passed by the town’s far-right mayor. “My decision is so that the Republic wins, that in France the Republic has priority and not religion,” Sanchez said in an interview at…
Gender bias: ‘A woman is a jihadist like any other’
Emilie König is a well-known name in counterterror circles and has come to symbolize the relatively new phenomenon of female jihadism in France. The 33-year-old Muslim convert from Brittany is one of only two females on a US State Department list of terrorists and is subject to US and UN sanctions. On January 17, lawyers for…
Charlie Hebdo ‘didn’t change at all’
Sunday will mark three years since gunmen stormed the offices of the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo and opened fire, killing 12 and injuring 11. The send-ups of Islam that the magazine published had made it a target for years, especially after in 2006 it reprinted caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed that ran in a Danish paper, and in 2011, it…
Observers express disappointment with annulment of Christine Boutin sentence
In April 2014 former politician Christine Boutin remarked during an interview that “homosexuality is an abomination.” In December 2015 Boutin was ordered to pay 5,000 euros in fines for her remarks. This Tuesday, the Appeals Court annulled its original sentence for “provocation of hate or of violence,” stating that, “the incriminating remarks, even if offensive, do…