At the beginning of May, Germany’s most renowned living philosopher, Jürgen Habermas, was named the recipient of the United Arab Emirates’ Sheikh Zayed Book Award, making Habermas the cultural personality of the year. After initially accepting the award, Habermas swiftly reversed his decision and ultimately rejected the honour – along with the award’s cheque for EUR…
“The European Commission funds several associations that are considered Islamist by the German government or the Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Verfassungsschutz). Although officials [of these associations] have garnered attention because of their anti-Semitic statements, EU funds continue to flow” (source). That was the opening claim of Welt journalist, Frederik Schindler, in a…
At the end of March, a teacher at Batley Grammar School in West Yorkshire was suspended following a religious studies lesson in which the teacher showed cartoon depictions of the Prophet Muhammad. Despite the school issuing a statement of apology, parents have protested against the use of offensive cartoons . The situation has generated widespread…
