General News
Identity Politics Causes Rift in Germany’s Embattled Social Democratic Party
In recent weeks, the debate on identity politics has flared up in Germany. The former vice-president of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), Wolfgang Thierse, published a contribution in the widely circulated Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) in late February, entitled “How Much Identity Can a Society Withstand?” in which he criticized the increasingly entrenched nature of…
Kahina Bahloul and the European imamas, pushing for a modern and liberal Islam
Kahina Bahloul, who is credited for becoming the first female imam (or imama) in France, published in March 2021 her first book titled “Mon islam, ma liberté” (“My Islam, my freedom”). In this book, she explains her origins and her liberal vision of Islam. Born in Paris in 1979, Bahloul spent her childhood and adolescence…
Switzerland Referendum: The Importance of the Burqa Ban for right-wing groups.
On the 7th of March 2021, Switzerland – with a narrow majority of 51%[1] – voted in favour of approving a nationwide ban on full-face coverings. This sees Switzerland join the growing number of European countries to vote in favour of such initiatives, with France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Austria, and Bulgaria each having put in place…
BioNTech Founders Awarded Germany’s Federal Cross of Merit
Özlem Türeci and Uğur Şahin have been awarded the German order of merit for their role in the development of the BioNTech-Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine. It was the first of a host of vaccines to be granted certification in the EU, in late December 2020, marking a significant step in winning the battle against Covid-19. Türeci and Şahin are a couple that…
Austria’s Observatory for Political Islam and Securitization of Islam
In July of 2020, Austria’s minister for integration, Susanne Raab, announced the opening in Vienna of the Observatory for Political Islam (‘Dokumentationsstelle Politischer Islam’). The objectives of the new institution are “ to prevent p extremism” and to “ensure independence of science and research”1 in order to fight against “Political Islam”. Lorenzo Vidino, Director of…