Paris mosque: Burger chain not fully halal Via AP : Note to big companies hoping to tap into France’s lucrative but long-neglected Muslim consumer market: Pitfalls may await, and not only in the form of complaints from the far-right. As of this week, 2 2 outlets of popular French fast food chain Quick are serving burgers it says respect Islamic dietary law
France: Burger chain launches more halal outlets Via AFP : A popular fast-food brand said Tuesday it would extend the number of halal only restaurants in its chain in France, after a controversial pilot project in February proved a success. Some politicians reacted angrily to Quick’s announcement earlier this year of its first halal-only branches, saying the chain had deprived non-Muslims of a right to standard burgers and promoted social divisions. But the Belgian chain said Tuesday it would switch 14 more of its French branches to serve only halal meat, certified as slaughtered in accordance with Islamic practices, bringing the total in France to 22 of its restaurants
Germany: Blurred identities He has been living for six years in Berlin, and is married to a German woman, yet Rabee [who gave only one name] has no German friends. In politically correct parlance this could be headlined: ‘New German marries old German, does not befriend older Germans’. Via Jordan Times : The 22-year-old Muslim Lebanese, who emigrated to Germany illegally in search of better work opportunities, is part of an about 120,000-strong Arab community whose members reside in Berlin but have limited interaction with Germans and other Europeans
Belgium: Halal training for prison guards, doctors Prisons According to our sources, the Federal Public Service (SPF) of Justice will soon launch a pilot project to train personnel in prisons about the problematics of halal. Apparently, though it is difficult to obtain exact figures on the percentage of Muslims in Belgian prisons. observers agree that there are many religious Muslims there
Germany: German-Turkish politician calls for burka ban Via Deutsche Welle : Liberal German-Turkish politician Serkan Toeren has called for a ban on the full-body veil worn by Muslim women.
Norway: ‘Norwegians have less empathy towards Muslims’ ( photo ) Former lawyer and current Liberal politician Abid Q. Raja provoked many in Sunday’s Dagsavisen by claiming that Norwegian’s lack of empathy for Muslims is the reason for the lower donations to the flood victims in Pakistan.
France: Muslims prefer Ramadan in France Escaping the heat, excessive prices and the shackles of morals, more and more Muslims in France prefer to celebrate Ramadan in France, rather than in North Africa, moving their vacation dates so they would return to France by the fasting month, August 10th. Meziane Idjerouidene, CEO of the Aigle Azur airlines, says that this summer the waves of people going back started in early June, while normally it’s 23-25 of June and the peak of returns was between August 8 and 10, the beginning of the 9th month of the Muslim calendar
France: Halal ads go mainstream Via France24 : It’s food advertising with a halal twist – billboard posters that go blank in daylight hours during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Halal food distributor Isla Delice is set to launch the posters on August 10 (the beginning of Ramadan, when Muslims fast from sunset to sundown) which show an empty table by day
UK: The Talibanisation of British childhood by hardline parents Via Daily Mail h/t Veritas Universalis Last November, on the steps of Tate Britain, I witnessed a scene that troubles me still. A furious Asian father was shaking his young son and tearing up the picture his child had drawn. The boy kicked and cried
EU: Survey of young Moroccans The Moroccan city of Ifrane recently hosted the first forum for young Moroccans abroad, organized by the Council for the Moroccans Community Abroad (CCME) One of the topic discussed was a survey conducted by the BVA agency among 2,610 Moroccans aged 18-34 from six different countries: the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, Spain and Italy. The survey is comprehensive, but was pretty much ignored by the media.