Can French Muslims be funny? And can they get on TV?

Who says Muslims can’t be funny? That’s the tagline for a project by a French team that has produced 18 short movies in the last two years that take a humourous look at being a Muslim in France. With 14 million hits on its website, the project has attracted attention, but it has had trouble moving into mainstream television.

.... But it stays in the realm of the human. For Zahi, a practicing Muslim, there is a difference between poking fun at religion and laughing at the humans trying to practice the religion. [RFI] Read more [via Islam in Europe]

French far-right MP stripped of EU parliamentary immunity

The European Parliament stripped parliamentary immunity from French far-right MEP Bruno Gollnisch on Tuesday, to enable a complaint of "incitement to racial hatred" to be investigated.

French authorities will now interview Gollnisch after asking for the move, following a complaint over an October 2008 press release issued by Rhone-Alpes regional authorities near Lyon, which Gollnisch led, that cited "the invasion of our land and the destruction of our culture and values" by Islam. [AFP] Read more [via Islam in Europe]

French court acquits blogger who was 'only having some fun' when burning and urinating on Qur'an

A French court on Monday acquitted a blogger of a charge of provoking discrimination related to burning a copy of the Qur'an in an internet broadcast and urinating on the book.

The court in the north-eastern city of Strasbourg found that Ernesto Rojas Abbate had been acting within the boundaries of freedom of expression when he used the Qur'an as a prop in a simulation of the September 11 2001 terrorist attacks on New York.

Filming himself with a webcam on October 2, Abbate made a paper aircraft with pages from the Qur'an and launched it at two glasses representing the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre. He then burnt the aircraft and the book and urinated on them, to "quench the flames". [Islamophobia Watch] Read more

Egyptian Christians say they are 'under organised attack'

Armed troops and riot police guarded the streets around St Mena's church and nearby burned-out shops and apartment blocks in the impoverished, crumbling Cairo suburb of Imbaba.

Inside, Father Cherubim Awad said a conspiracy was the only possible explanation for the violence that had engulfed relations between Christians and Muslims in recent weeks.

"Five churches were attacked on the same night," he said. "From the beginning of this year we have had all these attacks in a short space of time.

"There is some hidden hand behind this, whether from inside the country or outside it." [telegraph.co.uk] Read more

Dutch anti-Islam speech in Ottawa angers Muslims

Members of Canada's Muslim community say the government is guilty of hypocrisy in allowing a prominent critic of Islam to enter Canada on a speaking tour.

Controversial Dutch politician Geert Wilders, a prominent critic of Islam, is scheduled to speak at the National Arts centre in Ottawa on Tuesday.

Wilders, who heads the Netherlands' third-biggest political party, is being prosecuted in Holland for hate speech, after he compared the Qur'an, Islam's holiest text, to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf. [CBC.ca] Read more

Geert Wilders’ problem with Islam

…. He notes that while other religions draw a distinction between God and Caesar, between the secular and the spiritual, Islam demands submission in every aspect of human existence, both through the wording of the Koran itself and the Shariah law that has developed in its shadow.

The faith also supplies a justification for aggressive war; vilifies non-believers; and pronounces death upon its enemies. In short, Mr. Wilders argues, it has all the ingredients of what students of 20th century history would recognize as a fully formed totalitarian ideology.

“I see Islam as 95% ideology, 5% religion — the 5% being the temples and the imams,” he tells me. “If you would strip the Koran of all the negative, hateful, anti-Semitic material, you would wind up with a tiny [booklet].” [National Post] Read more

Social Democrat ditches Muslim holiday plan

Social Democrat party secretary Carin Jämtin has backtracked on the idea of giving Swedes a day off work to celebrate a Muslim holiday after her controversial proposal provoked a storm of criticism.

The newly appointed party secretary kick-started the debate when suggesting in a interview earlier this week that any review of Sweden's public holidays should consider making room for the Muslim celebration of Eid al-Fitr.

Jämtin said the addition of the holiday, which marks the end of Ramadan for Muslims, would help reflect the multicultural nature of Swedish society. [The Local] Read more

Egypt Muslim-Christian clashes: 190 face military trial

.... At least 10 people have died and 186 were wounded during the overnight clashes in Cairo's Imbaba district.

It started after several hundred conservative Salafist Muslims gathered outside the Coptic Saint Mena Church.

They were reportedly protesting over allegations that a Christian woman was being held there against her will because she had married a Muslim man and wanted to convert to Islam.

Rival groups threw firebombs and stones, and gunfire was heard.

The church and one other, as well as some nearby homes, were set alight, and it took some hours for the emergency services and the military to bring the situation under control. [BBC] Read more

At least 6 dead in Egyptian sectarian violence

At least six people were killed and 120 injured in sectarian clashes outside a church in Cairo on Saturday, officials said.

A group of Muslim Salafists attacked the Saint Mena Coptic Orthodox Church. Gunfire rang out as people sprinted for cover.

"With my own eyes I saw three people killed and dozens injured," said Mina Adel, a Christian resident. "There's no security here. There's a big problem. People attacked us, and we have to protect ourselves."

Egyptian Interior Ministry spokesman Alla Mahmoud said in a statement that six people were killed and 120 injured.

He said the clashes were sparked by reports of a Christian woman who married a Muslim man and was allegedly being held inside the church. [CNN] Read more

Warning sounded over polygamous Muslim marriages

The government has been told that it may be risking causing offence to Muslims living in Ireland who wish to engage in polygamous marriages.

Senior department officials at the Department of Social Protection said procedures where children born to second or concurrent wives were recorded as illegitimate could cause offence. In a special briefing note prepared for the minister, Joan Burton, the officials warned that Muslim men here may believe that Irish procedures were ‘‘disrespectful’’ to their religion.

The move follows concerns by the High Court over the acceptance of certain marriages as valid when celebrated in certain countries under so-called ‘native law and custom’.

The High Court’s concern follows a case brought by a Lebanese man last year, in which he sought to obtain recognition for a second concurrent marriage, both of which he had entered into while living in Lebanon. [Sunday Business Post] Read more

2 Muslims are taken off plane

Two Muslim religious leaders on their way to a Charlotte conference on "Islamophobia" said they were removed from a commercial flight Friday because the pilot refused to fly with them on board.

Imams Masudur Rahman, an adjunct professor of Arabic at the University of Memphis, and Mohamed Zaghloul said they and their bags were checked twice by security agents at the Memphis airport before boarding the 8:40 a.m. Delta connection Flight 5452 to Charlotte. Rahman said the plane left the gate and was taxiing to the runway when the pilot came over the intercom. "The pilot said: 'There is an issue. We need to return to the gate,'" Rahman said.

"They were screened and cleared to fly," said TSA spokesman Jon Allen in Atlanta. "The decision to deny boarding was made by the airline, not TSA." [The Herald] Read more

Iran to make university courses more Islamic

Iran plans sweeping changes to university courses to make them more compatible with Islam, the official IRNA news agency reported on Friday.

.... The report did not name the subjects that would be changed, but officials said last year Iran would review 12 disciplines in the social sciences, including law, women’s studies, human rights, management, sociology, philosophy, psychology and political sciences, as their contents were too closely based on Western culture.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called for modification of these studies in August, saying that many humanities subjects are based on principles founded in materialism rather than divine Islamic teachings. [Reuters Blogs - FaithWorld] Read more

Blasphemy case on Facebook adjourned

.... The petitioner Muhammad Azhar Siddieque arguing before the court said that Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and the Ministry of Communication completely has failed to detect the blasphemy on internet and especially on facebook.

The petitioner said some people who had their agenda to disgrace the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and struggling to defame the dignity of Islam.

He prayed before the court to issue notice to the concerned authorities on the negligence on their part. He also prayed that PTA and Ministry for communication be directed to ban facebook on permanent basis. [thefrontierpost.com] Read more [via Religious Watch]

Will Muslim Brotherhood succeed where Osama bin Laden failed?

.... Bin Laden was many things, but he was not original. He was himself introduced to the doctrine of jihad by the late Palestinian theologian Abdullah Yusuf Azzam. Significantly, before Azzam begun teaching bin Laden and others in Saudi Arabia, he was a member of the Palestinian Muslim Brotherhood.

Unlike Al Qaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood has evolved and learned the hard way that the use of violence will be met with superior violence by state actors.

The clever thing to do, it now turns out, was to be patient and invest in a bottom-up movement rather than a commando structure that risked being wiped out by stronger forces. Besides, the gradualist approach is far more likely to win the prize of state power. [The Christian Science Monitor] Read more [via The Iconoclast]

Burqa ban sees 27 offences recorded

FRANCE'S burqa ban has seen 27 offences recorded since it was brought into force. The law bans people from covering their faces in public spaces, effectively outlawing the burqa and niqab Islamic dresses.

A report from the Interior Ministry says on average one or two women a day have been given verbal cautions since the ban began on April 11.

Minister Claude Guéant said: "A lot of people were worried about this. They said the law was inapplicable.

"In fact, the people stopped have complied and have generally been given a verbal warning," he said.

The most recent fine he said, went to an American at Charles de Gaulle airport.

Having returned from Saudi-Arabia she initially complied with the request to remove the veil, but was fined after putting it back on in the airport. [The Connexion] Read more

Denmark: Failed integration of Blågård church Palestinians

In 1992, a group of Lebanese-Palestinians (stateless) sought asylum in Blågård church (in Nørrebro, Copenhagen) and were finally given residence permits. A new report by Integration Minister Søren Pind (V) shows that their integration failed, and that most are on welfare.

Of the 321 stateless Palestinians, 218 received some form of welfare in 2009. According to the study, 26 of the remaining 80 people were born before 1945 and could therefore be getting a pension, which is not statistically considered welfare.

The study also shows that 63 people were sentenced to a prison sentence (conditional or unconditional) and 114 were fined in the period 1992-2009. [Islam in Europe] Read more

UN could move to target criticism of Islam as 'hate speech'

Muslim countries may seek a United Nations resolution that would brand criticism of Islam and other religions as “hate speech,” a top U.S. religious freedom official is warning.

Earlier this year, Islamic nations lost their most recent bid to pass a resolution against “defamation” of “vilification” of religions in the U.N. Human Rights Council.

Now they appear to be pursing a new tactic, said Leonard Leo, a presidential appointee who chairs the bipartisan U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. [Catholic News Agency] Read more [via Religious Watch]

Norway Imam children’s school applicant advocates decapitation

.... Omitting this information from his application to the Directorate for Education and Training, the Ministry of Education and Research’s executive body, he says in a YouTube video that, “A person who eats and drinks in public during Ramadan ridicules Islam”, reports NRK.

“Authorities shall decapitate the individual if he/she is within the jurisdiction of a Muslim society or state,” proclaims the Imam, believing jail or the same punishment applies to people who do not exercise their prayer obligation. [The Foreigner] Read more [via The Iconoclast]

'Saudi Women Revolution' makes a stand for equal rights

As election centers across Saudi Arabia opened on April 23 for voters to register for forthcoming municipal elections, groups of women turned up asking to take part.

As expected, they were turned away -- women will not be able to stand or vote in September's municipal elections -- but just by showing up they had made their point.

This was one of the first public acts of the newly-formed "Saudi Women Revolution," a movement set up to campaign for the end of Saudi Arabia's discriminatory laws.

Their chief aim is ending male guardianship, which means Saudi women often need permission from their husband, father, brother or even son to work, travel, study, marry, or access health care, according to Human Rights Watch. [CNN] Read more

Turkish Internet filtering plan 'unconstitutional,' experts say

A plan to require Internet users in Turkey to choose one of four content-filtering packages is unconstitutional and violates the right to freedom of expression, legal experts and civil-society groups have said.

“[Turkish authorities] look at how they can impose regulations that limit the freedom of expression on the Internet, rather than promoting this freedom,” Orhan Erinç, the chairman of the Turkish Journalists Community, told the Hürriyet Daily News in a phone interview Wednesday.

He said that mentality had not changed for more than three decades, since the beginnings of radio and television broadcasting in the country. [Hurriyet Daily News] Read more

Man kills his family for not converting to Islam

A man who was angry that his family would not go along with his conversion to Islam was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday in the slayings of his mother, pregnant wife, infant son and two nieces in a rampage last year on the South Side.

James A. Larry, 33, of Madison, Wis., pleaded guilty last month to multiple counts of murder, attempted murder and the intentional homicide of an unborn child. [Chicago Tribune] Read more [via National Secular Society]

Man kills stepdaughter for not honoring Muslim religion

A Michigan man shot and killed his stepdaughter because he felt she was not honoring her Muslim religion, according to police.

Rahim Alfetlawi told investigators that he shot Jessica Mokdad in the head Saturday, because he was upset about her new lifestyle.

"He indicated he wanted her back in Minnesota, so she could [practice] a more conservative lifestyle," said Det. Cpl. Stephen Mills, with the Warren Police Department.

Alfetlawi allegedly left his home in Minnesota on Friday and stopped in Grand Blanc, MI, where Mokdad had been living with her biological father. But he was not able to find her. [WDAM] Read more [via National Secular Society]

Free speech dies in Denmark

Another bad blow against freedom in the west. Lars Hedegaard, President of the Danish Free Press Society and The International Free Press Society, was yesterday found guilty of hate speech under the Danish penal code.

His crime – as I wrote previously here, here and here – was to draw attention to child abuse and violence against women in Muslim culture. The day after the interview, he stressed that his opinions were about Islam and not intended to refer to all Muslims. [The Spectator] Read more

Final remarks by Geert Wilders at his Trial in Amsterdam, May 2nd, 2011

.... Mr. President, members of the court, I end with a quote of George Washington, who said: “If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.” Mr. President, members of the court, do not let this warning become reality.

Stop this charade, this political trial where I have already been convicted by the court even before I was a suspect. Stop it now. If you do so, and I passionately hope you will, this will benefit freedom of speech as well as the respectability of the judicial power and the rule of law. [The Iconoclast] Read more

Pakistan: Hundreds of Muslims attack Christians; police arrest Christians for counter-protest

At least 20 people, including police officials, were wounded as 500Muslim demonstrators attacked the Christian community in Gujranwala city on April 29, Minorities Concern of Pakistan has learnt.

The attackers, who accused certain members of the Christian community of committing blasphemy, entered a Christian missionary school and broke the furniture there and also attempted to attack a church in Gulzar Colony.

Police broke up the mob of people armed with sticks tried to attack a local Church. Bruce Bhatti, a Christian social worker, told Minorities Concern of Pakistan that situation is very tense in the city and Christians are very scared. [Spero News] Read more [via Religious Watch]