Allah or the Advisory Council, Islamic Religious Education in Germany

A few weeks ago, a new school subject was introduced in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia: Islamic religious education. The new subject is a provisional arrangement and is not uncontroversial. By Ellen Hoffers Aya frowns. In the back row, Ayman starts a kind of sing-song “Shalom, salaam, shalom.” Bernd Ridwan Bauknecht sighs. He has…

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France boosts embassy security over Muhammad cartoon

News Agencies – September 19, 2012   The French government stepped up security at its embassies across the Muslim world after a French satirical weekly published vulgar caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad, inflaming global tensions over a movie insulting to Islam. The move by the provocative weekly Charlie Hebdo followed days of violent protests from…

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The German Interior Ministry’s Controversial Poster Campaign: Encouraging Prejudice and Paranoia

Sometimes good intentions are just not enough: a new campaign by the German interior ministry, says Robert Misik, only contributes to the widespread paranoia about “the Muslims” – and thus encourages the very radicalism it wants to fight The German interior ministry is currently on the hunt for missing persons. In fact, quite a lot…

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Gay Iraqis Qualify for Asylum in Netherlands

12 July 2012   Following a foreign affairs ministry report criticizing the treatment of homosexuals in Iraq, Immigration Minister Gerd Leers has announced that they qualify for asylum in the Netherlands. In a briefing regarding the decision Leers noted that in order to qualify, individuals will have to prove that they are from Iraq.

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Religious Organizations De-Escalate Tensions Around Islam

8 March 2012 A research project by members of the University of Amsterdam has concluded that religious organizations provide a source of de-escalation in tensions around Islam in the Netherlands. Commissioned by the justice ministry’s Scientific Research and Documentation Centre (WODC), the project studied five cases of criticism of Islam in western countries, including the…

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