Amsterdam’s Free University Cancels Debate with Controversial Islamic Scholar

16 February 2012 Amsterdam’s Free University (VU) has cancelled a debate organized by the Islamic Student Union of Amsterdam, which was to see Haitham al-Haddad, a controversial Saudi-born scholar living in London, in conversation with Yasser Ellethy of the Centre for Islamic Theology. The subject of the debate was the role of the Muslim scholar…

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Dutch Organizations Launch Online Vote Compass for Morocco

31 October 2011 In advance of parliamentary elections in Morocco on 25 November, in which the king will transfer his governmental authority to a prime minister, Dutch organizations have created an online ‘Vote Compass’ for the country. The Compass, available in French and Arabic, enables participants to respond to a series of questions, indicating which…

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Thesis Claims Dutch Temp Agencies Enable Discrimination

2 November 2011   A master’s thesis written by two sociology students at Amsterdam’s Free University concludes that the nation’s temporary job agencies participate in discrimination. The researchers note that in 76.8% of cases, temp agencies agreed when asked whether it was possible not to supply Turkish, Moroccan or Surinamese workers – a clear violation…

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Doctoral Research into Headscarf in Europe

10 July 2011 A doctoral student at Amsterdam’s Free University (VU) has investigated the attitude of European countries towards headscarves and concluded that ‘national ideas about religion and ethnicity play an important role’. Radio Netherlands Worldwide reports on Doutje Lettinga’s thesis and summarizes her findings that women wearing the headscarf are being ignored in the…

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Fighting Islamophobia with Rational Arguments: Interview with Gudrun Krämer

4 February 2011 Renowned scholar of Islam Gudrun Krämer regularly contributes to the public debate on Islam in Germany. She is director of the Institute of Islamic Studies at the Free University Berlin and director of the Berlin Graduate School Muslim Cultures and Societies. Her special research subjects include religion, law, politics, society and the…

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