News Agencies – February 13, 2011 Last month, the website Débat Halal claimed it had evidence that a popular brand of halal-certified poultry sausages marketed in France by a giant international food producer actually contain pork, rendering them haram to Muslims. The accusation led many French Muslims to question how they can be sure that…
New York Times – February 18, 2011 A French court convicted the prominent commentator Eric Zemmour on charges of “provocation to racial discrimination” for televised comments in which he suggested that a majority of criminals in France were “black and Arab,” and said that employers “have the right” to deny employment to those ethnic groups….
New Agencies – February 23, 2011 Revealing a side of France that’s seldom depicted in homegrown commercial movies, the couscous cop caper Halal Five-O (Halal, police d’Etat) will likely be remembered as a cultural studies artifact rather than as a successful comedy. Written by and starring Eric Judor and Ramzy Bedia the script showcases the…
The Dutch Parliament has terminated efforts by the country’s animal rights party (PvdD) to ban the ritual slaughter of animals without anaesthetic. MPs announced that religious freedoms were more important. The news is of relevance to both Jewish and Muslim communities in the country, and their ritual slaughter of cows, chickens, sheep and goats.
February 21 2011 Politician Roel Kuiper, of the Netherlands’ Christian Union, has called for a constitutional amendment banning sharia law in the country. He suggests that Islamic law is “grounded in retaliation” and is “not rooted in principles which form part of Dutch culture”. Further, Senator Kuiper wants to regulate the flow of money from…
