The National Post – March 11, 2011 The report from the 2008 commission headed by sociologist Gérard Bouchard and philosopher Charles Taylor was supposed to clarify, finally, the boundaries where secular politics and religious accommodation could reside comfortably in Quebec. But in the three years since making public their “reasonable accommodation” recommendations, things have only…
News Agencies – March 2, 2011 Authorities in the French city of Nice have forbidden a far-right group to hold a “porchetta and rosé apéritif” outside a Muslim prayer hall. The Nissa Rebela nationalist group says it has already submitted a second request for permission for the event after its first was rejected. The permit…
News Agencies – October 7, 2010 France’s constitutional watchdog has endorsed a divisive law forbidding face-covering Islamic veils anywhere in public, but expressed concern about applying it in places of worship such as a mosque. The decision of the Constitutional Council removes a key hurdle for the law, overwhelmingly approved in both houses of parliament…
A former member of the far-right Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) for the Vorarlberger region has been sentenced to either two years in prison or an unconditional fine of 1 200 Euros for Islamophobic comments that he had posted online. Though the man’s comments had received no support for his party, leading to his being…
Mirroring moves in Belgium and Spain, lawmakers in France begin debate on 13 July 2010 on a bill aimed at banning the full-face Islamic veil in the country with Europe’s biggest Muslim minority. The legislation would make it illegal to wear the face-covering veil anywhere in public and impose fines of 150 euros (US$190) to…
