Secularism, State Policies, and Muslims in Europe

Islam has increasingly become an internal affair in several western European countries, where the Muslim population has grown to ten to fifteen million. In recent years, the European public has intensely discussed Muslims and Islam on several occasions, from terrorist attacks in London and Madrid to the debates on Danish cartoons. In short, there is…

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    The Charlie-Hebdo magazine in France Acquitted in Mohammad Cartoons Case

    The Charlie-Hebdo weekly satirical Paris-based newspaper has been cleared of a charge of publicly abusing a group of people because of their religion. A group of French Muslim associations filed a complaint following their publication of the 2005 Danish cartoons in February 2006. The appeals court ruled that the cartoons were not aimed at insulting…

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      Protests continue in Afghanistan over Dutch film and Danish cartoons; demand troop withdrawal

      Thousands of Afghanis demonstrated last weekend in Western Afghanistan, shouting slogans against Denmark and the Netherlands for alleged insults against Islam, concerning the re-printing of cartoons of the prophet Muhammad in Danish newspapers, and the upcoming release of an anti-Quran film by a Dutch lawmaker. An estimated 10,000 people took part in the protest, where…

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        French Muslims seek new representative body in mosque

        French Muslims want new blood injected into the French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM), the country’s main representative body, to redress deficiencies and start a new chapter. “Five years after the council came into being, it is time for a second reading to its policies,” Larbi Kechat, the rector of the Ad Dawa mosque…

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          Dutch intelligence agency says terror threat is receding but radicalization continues

          The threat of terror attacks is receding in the Netherlands thanks to tough new laws and the prosecution of key Islamic extremists, the head of the country’s national intelligence service said Friday. “The concrete threat of homegrown jihadist networks appears to have receded,” said Sybrand van Hulst, head of the Dutch Intelligence and Security Service,…

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