By MARGOT ADLER A proposed Islamic cultural center and mosque two blocks from the site of the destroyed World Trade Center has become a flash point of controversy. The Islamic center is supported by most politicians in Manhattan and by religious leaders of many faiths. It is opposed by some Sept. 11 families, by conservative…
Fatima Mohamed, municipal councilor at Gines city Council (a small town in Seville) and member of the conservative Popular Party, resigned. She declared that she was being discriminated by her own party because she wore the hijab. She also stated that the Popular Party had used her in order to “sell integration”, but that her…
Aygül Özkan becomes the new social minister in the German state of Niedersachsen, and thereby the first politician of Turkish background in such high office. More surprisingly, it is the conservative party CDU who lifted her into this office, considering their generally rigorous policies on immigration and integration. Before coming to office this week, Özkan…
Recently, the Turkish community of one Munich district had to bury their plans for a new mosque. The conservative party CSU had blocked the construction for reasons of “wrong place, wrong architecture” and the lack of involvement of local neighbors. Furthermore, the initiative was proposed by an organization which has close ties to the Turkish…
Liberal German Muslims have announced their plans to found a new association to voice the concerns of those who do not feel represented by the current largely conservative associations. Lamya Kaddor, a feminist and strong critic of Islam, but a “liberal believing Muslim” herself, is one of the spokespersons of the initiative, which aims to…
