EU: ‘Being too Western’ reason for 71% of ‘honour’ killings Via the Irish Independent : Yes, it’s a cultural rather than a religious thing, stemming from some nasty tribal customs of South Asia and the Middle East, but though Hindus, Sikhs and the odd Christian might be perpetrators, the blunt truth is that honour killings are mainly Muslim-on-Muslim (91 per cent worldwide, 84 per cent North America, 96 per cent Europe).
Netherlands: Minister says imams should speak out against homophobia Via spitsnieuws (Dutch): Education Minister Van Bijsterveldt says all imams in the Netherlands should jointly speak against homophobic violence and support respecting gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgenders.
Denmark: DPP says Muslims are racist for sending children to private schools Via Fyens Stiftstidende (Danish): Alex Ahrendtsen, education spokesperson for the Danish People’s Party (DPP), said Muslim parents who send their children to private schools are ‘little racists’ Ahrendtsen was speaking to TV 2 NEWS, which reported that immigrant children go to private schools more than ethnic Danish children (14% of Danes vs.
Europe: a Christian continent? Via Today’s Zaman : I think the biggest challenge for the future of Europe is to develop ways and forms of coexistence among the culturally and religiously diverse populations living on the continent. Instead of declaring multiculturalism dead, Europeans have to reinvent it
Germany: Muslim car-pool service Via TAZ (German, h/t Snaphanen ) Selim Reid (24) is the founder of MuslimTAXI, a Muslim ride-sharing service.
Norway: Two Iranian converts attacked, called ‘kuffar’ Via Världen idag (Swedish): Two Iranians who converted from Islam to Christianity were stabbed by masked me in Haugesund last week. The attacker shouted ‘Kuffar’ (Arabic for non-believer) during the attack.
Germany/Switzerland: Honor killings Two recent honor killing stories: In Germany, five siblings are suspected of killing Kurdish Arzu Ö.
News catch up Various news stories I haven’t been able to get to recently: Sweden * Islam was dropped from the curriculum in the Sundsvall high school. The school inspection service says that such a decision to exclude the religion should be carefully considered. * Christmas morning Sweden Radio broadcast a rerun of a morning show where imam Abd al Haqq Kielan spoke about “Islam in Swedish”
France: Muslim and Jewish celebrations ‘should be bank holidays’ Via France24 : France’s Green presidential hopeful raised heckles across the political spectrum Tuesday by suggesting that France should honour Muslim and Jewish festivals as well as Christian ones, by according them a national holiday. Speaking in Paris on Wednesday at her first campaign rally, Green presidential candidate Eva Joly argued that national holiday status should be accorded to the Muslim festival of Eid-ul-Fitr and the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur. Currently six of the 12 national holidays in France are Catholic calendar events, with the other six having no religious connotation.
Athens: Appeal against plans to build mosque Via Today’s Zaman (h/t Qalam ) A group of Greeks that includes bishops, academics and military officers have appealed against a parliamentary bill that will allow the construction of a mosque in the Greek capital. According to the Greek press, a petition submitted to the Council of State in December was signed by Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Seraphim of Piraeus, as well as a university professor, naval officers and five residents of the area in which the mosque is planned to be built. The appeal argues that the construction of a mosque would be in violation of the constitution and harmful for national unity