Nine year-old Islam Alaouchiche dreamed of participating in his favorite television program In Ze Bo_teon Gulli, a French children’s television channel. While he was pre-selected by Angel Productions to participate, those responsible for casting informed the boy and his mother that his first name was problematic and might shock viewers. Islam’s mother, Farah Alaouchiche, claims…
Unease with Pope Benedict XVI’s approach to Islam has led a US Muslim group to decline to join an inter-faith event with the pope later this week. Salam al-Marayati, executive director of the Los Angels based Muslim Public Affairs Council, said that the event seemed “more ceremonial than substantive” and his organization would not participate….
Italy’s 3.5 million immigrants are finding new ways to express their voices, as ethnic radio stations are thriving in Italy. Listeners can turn into some 40 ethnic programs across the country, in languages from Romani to Bengali, while others are broadcast in Italian, in hopes of legitimizing themselves as part of Italian culture. In several…
In Germany, Islam is often equated with fundamentalism and fanaticism, a perception that imposes a heavy burden on the country’s 3 million Muslims. Their relationship to Western society is divided between integration and sometimes self-imposed exclusion. The name of the salon is German — Goldene Finger (Golden Fingers) — but the services it offers are…
