The president of the National Federation of Muslims in France, Muhammad Bechari, has been sent to a new office. Contested in his own party, he was at the origin of the impasse.
English summary: This Wednesday in Berlin the Islam conference begins. Islamic critic Necla Kelek demands of this conference a clear formulation of a fundamental religious understanding that can govern the everyday life of Muslims. Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has invited representatives from the Muslim Federation and from the Muslim Civil Society to the conference. Through this…
The German government is meeting Muslim community leaders amid a furore over the cancellation of a Mozart opera deemed offensive to Muslims. The Islam conference in Berlin is an attempt to improve the integration of Germany’s three million Muslims. It was overshadowed by the row over the opera Idomeneo.
Angel Merkel today warned of the dangers of “self-censorship” in Germany after a Berlin opera house cancelled its staging of a Mozart opera because of fears that scenes in it would offend Muslims. “We must take care that we do not retreat out of a fear of potentially violent radicals,” the German chancellor was quoted…
The French government’s 2004 decision to ban Islamic headscarves and other religious signs from public schools puzzled many observers, both because it seemed to infringe needlessly on religious freedom, and because it was hailed by many in France as an answer to a surprisingly wide range of social ills, from violence against females in poor…
