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).
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
Morocco: Sex for a European husband Via nieuwsblad (Dutch): Poor Moroccan girls are willing to do everything in order to get a European husband.
Netherlands: Dutch plan ban on Muslim face veils next year Via Reuters : The Dutch minority government plans to ban Muslim face veils such as burqas and other forms of clothing that cover the face from next year. The ban would make the Netherlands, where 1 million out of 17 million people are Muslim, the second European Union country to ban the burqa after France, and would apply to face-covering veils if they were worn in public. “People should be able to look at each other’s faces and recognize each other when they meet,” the interior affairs ministry said in a statement Friday
Are Europe’s Muslims America’s problem? Via Al-Jazeera : “Soft power” programmes in the US that reach out to European Muslims have drawn ire from EU governments.
Ireland: Gov’t plans to be first EU state to sell Islamic bond Via the Irish Examiner (h/t Jihad Watch ): IRELAND plans to become the first European nation to sell sovereign sukuk — Islam-approved financial certificates — as its equal tax treatment for Islamic-finance products attracts investors. The Government has agreements with more than 60 countries to avoid double taxation on Islamic transactions, Micheál Smith, the south-east Asia director of IDA Ireland, said. ( source )
Brussels: Professor says Muslim countries should establish theological schools in Europe Via KUNA : A Belgian professor of sociology and researcher on Islam Felice Dassetto is calling on rich Muslim countries to assist in establishing Islamic theological schools and faculties in Europe to overcome the gap in intellectual leadership of European Muslims. “One of the major problems Muslims in Europe face, except perhaps for UK, is the absence of religious intellectual leadership,” said Dassetto who teaches sociology in the university of Leuven and has published three books on Islam. In an interview with the Kuwait news agency, KUNA, he explained that the reason for this vacuum is the absence of Islamic theological faculties in Europe
UK: ‘Bin Laden aide’ Abu Qatada wins extradition appeal Via France24 : The European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday blocked the extradition by Britain of Jordanian national Abu Qatada, who is alleged to have been Osama Bin Laden’s right-hand-man in Europe. The court in its judgement said there was a “real risk” that evidence against Abu Qatada, a radical British-based Muslim cleric, had been “obtained by torture of third persons” in custody in Jordan. ( source )
Sweden: Immigrant homelessness on the rise Via the Local : (…) In total, the study showed that 34 percent of the overall homeless population, some 10,900 people, were born outside of Sweden. Some 40 percent of these were women and 60 percent were men
EU: Muslim antisemitism rooted in integration failure Via Latitude (NY Times): (…) But while incidents in the Middle East are relevant, the root cause of the problem between Jews and Muslims in Europe isn’t simply the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; it is primarily the failure of European states to integrate immigrants, Muslims in particular. (…) In fact, the real answer lies much closer to home: according to a position-paper by the Brookings Institution, if Muslim communities in Europe felt less marginalization and had more economic opportunities, they would resort less to misdirected violence.