Sihem Habchi appeared as the first witness before a newly created parliamentary group studying Islamic clothing such as burqas and niqabs in the Republic, part of France’s effort to integrate its growing Muslim population while preserving its heritage and secular roots. The panel, chaired by Communist Party lawmaker André Gédron, will hold months of hearings…
On September 8 police in The Hague found a doll depicting Freedom Party (PVV) leader Geert Wilders hanging from a tree near the central station. The doll had a picture of Wilders affixed to it with a knife, and smeared with a substance intended to look like blood. Police arrested four individuals aged 18-19, students…
Eight years after the terrorist attacks on 9/11, Muslim Americans —particularly Muslim-American women — continue to face battles in their struggle for acceptance and the right to wear religious garb in public settings. A new poll from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life finds that Americans see Muslims as encountering more discrimination than…
(NEW YORK, NY 9/9/09) A coalition of Muslim advocates, lawyers and community leaders today called the NYPD decision to add a “Statement of Clarification” (Clarification) to its 2007 report, “Radicalization in the West: The Homegrown Threat” a “welcome first step.” They urged the NYPD to publicize the Clarification and engage in deeper dialogue with the…
Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said Pew’s findings back up his own group’s research. He blamed a “vocal minority” in the U.S. for fanning anti-Muslim bias with increasingly harsh rhetoric since 9/11. “Unfortunately, people have focused on that tiny, tiny minority of Muslims who have carried out violent acts, and claim…
