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.

(…)

‘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)

Hague: Muslim party denies dog ban proposal

Via AD (Dutch):

Hasan Küçük, fraction head of the Islam Democrats in the Hague, denies the party wants to ban dog ownership in the city. He says his words were taken out of context.

During a debate last week about the municipal policy regarding animals, Küçük said that he thinks it’s pitiful that dogs are sometimes shut in an apartment for 23 hours a day.

Küçük says that the party is not proposing to ban ownership of dogs. Küçük was not available for comment over the weekend.

Hague: Muslim party wants dog ban

via Spitsnieuws (Dutch):

Hasan Küçük, Hague councilor for the Islam Democrats, says dogs should be banned as pets in the city, reports De Telegraaf. The Muslim party says that the animals belong in nature, not inside the house. Küçük says that keeping dogs is animal abuse and should therefore be criminalized.

He responded sharply during a council debate last Thursday, when the Party for Animals suggested more consideration for dogs.

Paul ter Linden (PVV councillor) responded saying that pets are the norm in the Netherlands, and whoever disagrees should move to another country.

France: Three sentenced for Paris bomb plot

Via AFP:

A French court on Thursday sentenced three men to between two and six years in prison for plotting to carry out a car bomb attack on a public building near the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Rany Arnaud, Nadir Badache and Adrien Guihal were arrested in December 2008 after they allegedly planned to set off a car bomb outside the offices of a national police investigation body in the centre of Paris.

Arnaud, a convert to Islam and the ringleader of the group, was targeted by police after posting calls on an Islamic fundamentalist website for France to be attacked because of its participation in the war in Afghanistan.

(source)

London: ‘Strict Muslim’ raped women at knifepoint to ‘punish them for being on the streets at night’

Via the Daily Mail:

A Muslim man who raped women to ‘teach them a lesson’ for being on the streets at night was jailed indefinitely today because of the danger he poses to women.

Sunny Islam, 23, who comes from a strict Muslim family, dragged his terrified victims – including a 15-year-old – from the street at knifepoint, bound and assaulted them during a two-month reign of terror.

Police fear that Islam may have attacked many more.

(source)

NYT: How to Integrate Europe’s Muslims

Via the New York Times:

(…)

European countries could use a period of benign neglect of the Islam issue — but only after they finish incorporating religion into the national fabric. For too long, they have instead masked an absence of coherent integration policy under the cloak of “multiculturalism.” The state outsourced the hard work of integration to foreign diplomats and Islamist institutions — for example, some students in Germany read Saudi-supplied textbooks in Saudi-run institutions.

This neglect of integration helped an unregulated “underground Islam” to take hold in storefronts, basements and courtyards. It reflected wishful thinking about how long guest workers would stay and perpetuated a myth of eventual departure and repatriation.

(source)

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.

The attack happened Tuesday evening, when both Christian Iranians were out walking in Haugesund. They were suddenly attacked by three masked men armed with knives, who shouted ‘kuffar’ while they stabbed the two.

A nurse passing by gave first aid and then an ambulance brought them to hospital, reports Haugesunds Avis.

According to the police, one of the victims was knifed twice in the back and the other was attacked with a stick in his side. No perpetrators have been caught.

The two victims want to remain anonymous and have not spoken of the assault. They’ve lived in Norway for many years. One of them converted in Norway, the other did so in Iran and managed to flee to Norway after he was abused and imprisoned for his faith.

They’re both active in a local evangelical church.

‘They’ve very active in the community, and have also bore witness to their faith during meetings,’ says their pastor, who also wants to remain anonymous, since he often travels to Muslim countries where Christians are persecuted.

He’s certain that the attack was religiously motivated. “I’m totally sure of it. Since the attackers shouted ‘kuffar’ during the attack, I have no doubt about it.”

He says he didn’t expect such things to happen in Haugesund. “It’s very dramatic and surprising. I didn’t take that into account. I hadn’t heard of threats against any coverts in the area.”

Norway: Lawyer calls to stop ‘Islam’s incursion into Europe’

Via Nordlys (Norwegian):

Prominent lawyer Brynjar Østgård wants to stop Islam in Norway and thinks Islam threatens Norwegian culture and social order.

“It’s difficult to find a Muslim-dominated country with the same social order we have. Think of values like democracy, freedom of speech and rule of law,” Brynjar Østgård told Nordlys.

The lawyer is a former judge in the Hålogaland court of appeals and is on the board of the Hålogaland theater.

On Thursday he posted the following on his Facebook profile:

“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Islam’s incursion into Europe must be stopped – NOW! The talk and half-blind naivety must stop: we must think LONG TERM, or else the civilization that has taken 2000 years to build in Europe will be destroyed. WHEN did our government get the mandate from the people to throw away our culture, our home and our future? I know such a mandate was never given. (Just so it’s clear: you can’t really distinguish between Islam and Islamism – one follows the other)”

The post was written as a comment to an opinion article “Islam is taking hold” by the controversial Hege Storhaug, head of Human Rights Service.

Østgård doesn’t think his points of view are extreme, and denies it has anything to do with racism.

“There’s a difference between wanting a culture not to be threatened, put under pressure and disappear – and to disparage other people.

Q: Aren’t you really generalizing?

A: I don’t intend my words to be construed as casting suspicion on individuals, says the lawyer but adds: “But I think that Islam is a religion which interferes with thought processes and social order which we do not want.”

Østgård thinks Norwegian immigration policies should be much stricter. “I have no other prescription.”

Belgium: Muslim executive ‘under control of foreign countries’

Via HLN (Dutch):

“Belgian Muslim bodies are definitively under the control of foreign countries. The Muslim Executive will now be led only by people who will prioritze the interests of their land of origin over those of Belgian Muslims,” says the AMDB (Democaratic Alternative of Belgian Muslims), who say they unite ‘all components of the Muslim community’ in Belgium.

The general assembly of the Muslim Executive recently extended Semsettin Ugurlu’s term as chairman, as well as a series of other positions. The Executive also passed a motion of no-confidence against the new members, and the three members of ADMB were excluded. AMDB says the general assembly orchestrated the illegal exclusion of the three active members who refused to comply with embassy-Islam line.”

Just 11 of the 44 members of the general assembly were present. AMDB say that this way they passed the motion of no-confidence against the AMDB members who are ‘known for their battle for a transparent, democratic Islam’ which is not linked to any state intervention.

The AMDB do not recognize the legality of the decision and its members intend to continue in their positions and sue the Muslim Executive in court.

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”. Many listeners complained by Sweden Radio says they don’t understand the criticism, since there was no preaching on the program. The show’s producer says that he did not take into account the importance of the day for the show’s rerun. On the other hand, they will not put something similar on Easter, since it’s a Christian holiday, and will be more careful on Easter not to broadcast anything that might annoy listeners. (h/t Muslimska friskolan)

Netherlands

* The Amsterdam council supported a motion allowing illegal aliens to lodge complaints by the police without fear of being deported.

* There was a lot of criticism in the Hague when members of the Salafist As-Soennah mosque helped police patrol the streets on the New Year’s. The mosque participated in the municipal ‘role models’ project.

Belgium

* In Antwerp the court ruled a company is allowed to ban headscarves. In the case in question, security company G4S fired a Muslim woman who wore a headscarf, since their uniform policy forbids wearing any religious and political symbols. The court ruled that the woman was not fired for being Muslim, but because she did not follow company policy.

Norway

* 90% of Norwegians say the July 22 terror attack did not change their attitude towards immigrants. 6.9% say they now more positive and 1.7% say they’re more negative towards immigrants.

* 2nd generation immigrant youth now graduate at about the same rate as Norwegians (66% vs. 70%). About 50% of first generation immigrants graduate.

* The Country Governor of Oslo says schools are allowed to ban students from wearing hats or caps in class, but they cannot ban the hijab since it’s a religious practice,

* Halal Christmas meat has become more popular in Drammen this year. Keran Kacar, who runs a halal meat company, says he has sold three ton of such meat in November and December, a tripling since 2008. Kacar says he sells the meat also to restaurants and regular Norwegian families.

Denmark

* The number of non-Western immigrants who get early pension with disability increased nationally by 51% over the past five years.

* A new study on immigrants in the media shows that the media turn to immigrant sources for just 5% of its stories, focusing mainly on crime, social security and forced marriages, though immigrants make up 10% of the population.

* The average stay in asylum centers in Denmark is around 500 days. But there are 68 rejected asylum seekers have been waiting in such centers for more than 10 years, since it’s impossible to deport them and they refuse to leave voluntarily.