London: Muslim women to get self-defence training

Via Islington Tribune:

A TAEKWONDO champion is teaching Muslim women how to defend themselves, after a series of vicious street attacks.

Theresa Thomas, 52, has been snapped up by the One True Voice women’s charity to run classes for women wearing the hijab, who have become targets for muggers.

“I first heard about this when I was running an Asian women’s self-defence group in East London,” she said. “Then when I came to work in Finsbury Park, after One True Voice asked me, many of the women told me that muggers had been deliberately targeting them, taking the pin from their hijab and stabbing them in the head with it.”

She said the women found it hard to defend themselves because they were often carrying shopping bags or had children with them.

(source)

France: Not all civilisations equal, minister says

Via AFP:

French Interior Minister Claude Gueant, who also holds the immigration portfolio, caused political uproar by claiming that not all civilisations are equal, with some more advanced than others.

“Contrary to what the left’s relativist ideology says, for us all civilisations are not of equal value,” Gueant on Saturday told a conference in the French parliament building, but closed to the media.

“Those which defend humanity seem to us to be more advanced than those that do not,” he argued in his speech at a meeting organised by a right-wing students group.

“Those which defend liberty, equality and fraternity, seem to us superior to those which accept tyranny, the subservience of women, social and ethnic hatred,” he went on his speech, a copy of which was obtained by AFP.

(source)

France: Not all civilisations equal, minister says

Via AFP:

French Interior Minister Claude Gueant, who also holds the immigration portfolio, caused political uproar by claiming that not all civilisations are equal, with some more advanced than others.

“Contrary to what the left’s relativist ideology says, for us all civilisations are not of equal value,” Gueant on Saturday told a conference in the French parliament building, but closed to the media.

“Those which defend humanity seem to us to be more advanced than those that do not,” he argued in his speech at a meeting organised by a right-wing students group.

“Those which defend liberty, equality and fraternity, seem to us superior to those which accept tyranny, the subservience of women, social and ethnic hatred,” he went on his speech, a copy of which was obtained by AFP.

(source)

Russia: Islamist chief orders halt to civilian attacks

Via Expatica:

The leader of Russia’s Islamist rebels ordered a halt to attacks on civilians, saying mass opposition protests showed the public no longer supported Vladimir Putin, according to a video posted Friday.

(…)

“I order all special groups that are carrying out or plan to carry out special operations in Russia to put a halt to these operations that could hurt the peaceful population,” Doku Umarov said in a video address posted on the rebel mouthpiece kavkazcenter.com.

(source)

Moscow: High-ranking Interior Ministry officials suspected of extortion from Muslim community

Via Interfax:

Federal Security Service officials have submitted to the Prosecutor General’s Office materials stating that several high-ranking officials from the Interior Ministry’s Main Department for the Prevention of Extremism extorted a large amount of money from a Moscow Muslim community, Kommersant daily reports.

“The Federal Security Service officers obtained information that a major extortion incident had occurred in the Moscow Lefortovsky market before the New year holidays. According to that information, a group of police officers went to the market under the pretext of an inspection, suspended the market’s operation and demanded 1 million rubles from traders for permission to resume work,” Kommersant writes.

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According to Kommersant, the police said they were checking reports stating that there was an illegal extremist center disguised as a prayer room at the market, which was visited by Muslim traders and Tajik workers from nearby construction sites.

(source)

UK: Muslim teenager ‘hit for kissing white man’

Via the BBC:

A Muslim teenager from Hampshire was kidnapped, imprisoned and had her hair cut off after her siblings saw her kiss a white man, a court has heard.

Winchester Crown Court heard Shamima Akhtar, 18, was attacked by her family in Basingstoke in April of last year. The prosecution said the case was about “honour-based domestic violence”.

Her sisters Nazira, 29, and Nadiya, 25, and brother Kayum Mohammed-Abdul, 24, deny kidnap, false imprisonment and causing actual bodily harm.

(source)

London: Youth jail inmates converting to Islam for protection, easier lifestyle

Via the Daily Mail:

A third of inmates at one of Britain’s most notorious youth jails are Muslims and the religion is attracting a large number of converts.

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‘The popularity of the faith has surprised people. We are seeing a large number of inmates converting to Islam.’

He added: ‘There is a difference between mainstream believers and extremists, but the fear is that some in the jail are being radicalised.

‘Others convert for protection or to have what they believe is an easier lifestyle.’

(source)

UK: Three terror cells planned Mumbai-style attack

Via the Telegraph:

Four young men from London and Cardiff planned bomb attacks on targets including the London Stock Exchange, Parliament, the US embassy and the Mayor of London.

Three other men from Stoke were planning a further wave of attacks once they had travelled abroad for more training. Two other men were also linked to the plots.

Yesterday all nine men, of Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin, pleaded guilty to a series of terrorist-related offences at Woolwich Crown Court.

It followed months of surveillance by MI5 officers, who had watched the men develop from fringe radicals into terrorists who posed a grave threat to national security.

(source)

Finland: Immigrant youths particularly prone to marginalisation

Via YLE:

Immigrant youths are particularly prone to marginalisation, says Finnish Business and Policy Forum EVA. According to the think tank’s study, education is paramount for preventing exclusion from society.

“Over a quarter of marginalised youths have foreign backgrounds. Their entry into Finland’s education and labour markets is four or five times more difficult than for their native Finnish counterparts,” says Pekka Myrskylä, Head of Development at Statistics Finland’s Population Statistics Department, who compiled the report for EVA.

(source)

Brussels: Israeli minister speaks with EU officials about combating Muslim antisemitism

Via European Jewish Press:

Israeli Minister for Public Diplomacy and Diaspora, Yuli Edelstein, was in Brussels this week to attend an event marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day at the European Parliament.

At this occasion, he also met with several European Union officials, including Viviane Reding, EU Commission Vice-President in charge of justice and fundamental rights, and Stefan Füle, EU Commissioner for enlargement and neighbourhood policy.

With Commissioner Reding, who has the fight against anti-Semitism in her portfolio, he brought up several subjects including the issue of education, educating younger generation against Holocaust denial and against all forms of xenophobia and anti-Semitism.

“I brought her attention to the fact that unfortunately Muslim communities in many European countries are more and more exposed to anti-Israel and anti-Jewish propaganda,” he said in an interview with European Jewish Press.

“We have to pay special attention to proper education about the Holocaust, about Jewish history and against anti-Semitism in these communities. We have a lot of cooperation with the EU in this field. Once a year, we hold a special seminar organized by the Israeli foreign ministry and the EU on the issue of anti-Semitism. And I myself chair an international committee on combating anti-Semitism on the Internet. I suggested that a representative of the EU join this committee which was accepted.”

(source)