German policy-makers are debating the introduction of a so-called ‘mosque tax’, to be paid by German Muslims and collected by the German state in order to fund the provision of Islamic religious services. The ostensible model for such a levy is the ‘church tax’ (Kirchensteuer) already in existence: depending on their Land of residence, members…
In 2014 and 2015, European publics were kept in suspense by daily press reports on the rising numbers of European citizens travelling to Syria in order to join jihadi groups (and, to a lesser extent, Kurdish rebel forces). By early 2018, security agencies estimated that 960 men and women had made their way to Syria…
February 5, 2014 France’s Foreign Ministry has denied media reports that a French international school in Qatar has agreed to teach Islamic sharia law and separate boys and girls into different classrooms. A recent agreement between the Lycée Voltaire in Doha and French authorities does not involve changes to religion classes or dividing classes…
January 15, 2014 Students and women’s groups have written an open letter to the UN to condemn gender segregation at British universities. Writing to the UN’s special rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, the signatories are hoping to build pressure on UK universities to ban segregation of any kind. They write: “Gender segregation…
December 13, 2013 Over 100 demonstrators attended a rally last night in protest against “legitimisation of sex apartheid” by Universities UK (UUK). Protesters are up in arms over controversial new guidelines from the body on the laws affecting external speaker events. They claim that the new guidance will allow “ultra-orthodox religious groups” to separate…
