Black Lives Matter in France: Solidarity with US protests but ambiguity on the French “race” question

The Black Lives Matter movement extended to France a few days after the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis. The French protests have been fueled by similar tragic cases and have revived the denunciation of police brutality . Additional juridical elements in the investigation of the death of Adama Traoré – a…

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Artists withdraw from Bradford Literature Festival after Counter Extremism funding revealed

Six writers and activists pulled out of the Bradford literature festival[BLF], which took place 28th June – 7th July 2019, after it was revealed that it was funded in part by the UK Home Office Programme, “Building a Stronger Britain Together [BSBT]”, part of the 2015 counter-extremism strategy that funds and supports groups “involved in…

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French “gilets jaunes” and racist acts: isolated incidents or defining features of the movement?

Genesis of the movement: protestation against the rising price of fuel and the government policy: Beginning first on the internet, the “gilets jaunes” movement (a reference to the yellow safety jackets which are used as symbol of the movement) protests against the rising price of gas and, more broadly, expresses dissatisfaction towards the Emmanuel Macron…

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Nearly a quarter of a million people protest against racism in Berlin – yet Muslim participants remain under suspicion

Under the tagline #Unteilbar – which translates as #Indivisible – close to 250,000 men and women took to the streets on a warm and sunny October day in Berlin. Long expected as “the climax of a summer of protests”1, the demonstration sought to address a number of progressive social causes; yet it was race and…

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Progressive Muslims seek to open Islamic Academy in Berlin

As Euro-Islam reported, the political disputes of the past months have taken a heavy toll on Turkish-dominated DİTİB, numerically still Germany’s largest Islamic association. German politicians have castigated the organisation for its proximity to the Turkish government, particularly when it was revealed that some of its Imam’s had spied on suspected members of the Gülen…

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