Condemnation of hate-preaching Winterthur imam upheld

Zurich cantonal court has upheld the conviction handed down one year ago to a Muslim preacher who worked at a Winterthur mosque, accused of spreading hate and inciting violence. The Ethiopian faces a suspended sentence and deportation.

The Zurich court on Friday rejected an appeal and confirmed last year’s verdict against the unnamed man by a district court: a suspended sentence of 18 months and 10-year deportation from Switzerland.

The trial on Friday was far from protracted: the 26-year-old defendant, appealing the conviction handed him in November 2017, declined to elaborate on the accusations, saying that he had already told authorities everything necessary.

Within half an hour, the questioning was finished, and the Ethiopian man had denied the charges – charges that included delivering a hate-speech-filled sermon in October 2016, propagating Islamic State violence, and working without a permit.

Specifically, the imam called, during his sermon at the now-defunct An’Nur mosque in Winterthur, for Muslims that don’t pray within the community to be “banned, rejected, shunned, and slandered until they return”. If this doesn’t work, they should be killed, he reportedly said. [swissinfo.ch] Read more

Anger over pork sausages at Germany Islam event

Germany's Interior Ministry has said it regrets serving pork sausage at a conference on Islam in Berlin earlier this week.

The ministry said the food selection had been designed for the "diverse religious attendance" at the German Islam Conference in Berlin.

But it apologised "if individuals felt offended in their religious feelings".

The event was led by Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, who in March said Islam "does not belong in Germany".

Most of the attendees at the Islam conference were Muslims, local media reported. Under Islamic law, Muslims are forbidden to eat pork.

The type of sausage on offer was blutwurst - or "blood sausage" - which is made of ingredients including pig's blood, pork and bacon. [BBC] Read more

'There is no Sharia law on German soil': CDU candidate Merz

The candidate for the CDU presidency, Friedrich Merz, expects an unconditional commitment to the German legal system from the approximately 4.5 million Muslims in Germany, he said at a regional conference in Düsseldorf on Wednesday evening.

The former head of the Christian Union (CDU) faction took centre stage on Wednesday evening at a CDU regional conference in Düsseldorf, where the three most promising candidates presented themselves.

"There is no Sharia law on German soil," Merz said. Freedom of religion also applies to Muslims, he said, but they are subject to Germany's secular law.

Merz, who has been dubbed by German press as the 'anti-Merkel' due to his differing stances to the Chancellor and contrasting political style, also called for better state supervision of religious schools for Muslims.

"Our children cannot be taught in the state schools and indoctrinated in these schools," he said. [The Local] Read more

CHRISTIANITY CRACKDOWN: Four people arrested for HANDING OUT LEAFLETS

A GROUP of Christians is facing a five year jail term after they were arrested for handing out religious leaflets.

According to International Christian Concern (ICC) police stormed the group’s hotel rooms and arrested four people for ‘disturbing religious harmony.’ The incident happened in Malaysia where ICC said conservative locals complained to authorities over the group’s behaviour. Police in the tourist resort of Langkawi Island then raided the hotel where the Christians were staying and arrested two men and two women aged between 27 and 60.

ICC, an organisation which highlights the persecution of Christians across the globe, said Malaysian police received reports from local people who were unhappy about the missionaries, who are all from Finland, before raiding the hotel.

Police then searched the Christians' rooms and confiscated more than 300 leaflets which they had planned to hand out.

The Finns had only been in the country two days having flown more than 5,500 miles before their arrest. [Daily Express] Read more

Asia Bibi ‘shunned’ by UK officials, says Conservative MP

A CONSERVATIVE MP, Rehman Chishti, who has campaigned for Asia Bibi to be granted asylum in the UK, has clashed with the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy on Freedom of Religion or Belief over government refusals to meet members of her family when they visited the UK.

Asia Bibi, the Pakistani Roman Catholic farm worker acquitted of blasphemy charges last month (News, 2 November), is facing death threats from Islamist extremists. The RC charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has told reporters that vigilantes are going house-to-house looking for her. Mr Chishti cited the UK Government’s refusal to offer her asylum as one reason for his resignation as the Conservative vice-chair and trade envoy to Pakistan, two weeks ago.

Asia Bibi’s husband, Ashiq Masih, and her daughter Eisham Ashiq visited the UK in early October to speak at events organised by ACN, which had long campaigned for her release. Asia Bibi was acquitted only weeks later, but has been placed on a “no-exit” list after protests from extremists. [Church Times] Read more

The Saudi women detained for demanding basic human rights

Saudi Arabia continues to hold more than a dozen women rights activists in jail, months after a crackdown on dissent intensified in May.

Most of them campaigned for the right to drive and an end to the kingdom's male guardianship system, which requires women to obtain the consent of a male relative for major decisions.

In 1990, more than 40 women drove their cars in the capital Riyadh, the first public demonstration against the ban, which is now lifted. They also called for the abolishment of the male guardianship system.

Since then, other similar protests have been held, and the government initiated a crackdown on rights activists this year.

Those under arrest have been branded threats to national security and have been accused of being foreign agents. They face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that the reason for the arrest is to silence the women and prevent others from participating in activism.

Rights organisations and governments around the world have called on the Saudi authorities to release all political prisoners, but to no avail. [Al Jazeera English] Read more

Germany plans mosque tax to curb radical preachers

Germany may impose a “mosque tax” on its five million Muslims in a measure partly designed to ward off meddling by Turkey, Iran and Saudi Arabia.

The levy would be modelled on the church tax, under which the state raises about €12 billion a year from 46 million Germans, which it gives to various Christian and Jewish organisations.

Under the plans, Muslims would be liable to pay an 8 or 9 per cent surcharge on their income tax which would be distributed to German Islamic groups.

Horst Seehofer, the interior minister, who said eight months ago that Islam did not belong to his country, wants to root out “foreign influences” that he believes pervade German Islam.

About a third of the 2,700 mosques in Germany are run by an Islamic group sponsored by Turkey and are accused of acting as a mouthpiece for President Erdogan’s regime. Some of its imams have allegedly informed on dissident tendencies among their worshippers and led prayers for Turkish victories against Kurdish forces in Syria. [The Times (£)] Read more

Hath not a Muslim eyes?

“Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” This is a proposed definition urged on the Government by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims. Let’s ponder it for a few moments.

Some people who hate Islam or Muslims or both are undoubtedly racists. But are all of them? We don’t believe so, for two main reasons. First, some are members of the same race – if that is quite the right term here – as very many Muslims themselves. It would not be easy to postulate a racial difference between, say, a Hindu and a Muslim originating from the Punjab. Second, others clearly detest Islam or Muslims for religious reasons, not racial ones.

We believe that hating Muslims is always wrong and hating Islam completely unreasonable. Then again, much hangs what one means by Islam. Like Judaism and Christianity, its fellow Abrahamic religions, Islam is a vast, multi-faceted, complex faith.

This site has always maintained that a distinction can and should be drawn between Islam and Islamism. The first is a great religion, the majority manifestation of which, throughout its history, has been the traditional, classical variety. The second is a politicised variant – a kind of bastard child of Salafist practice and western technology. ISIS are at one of its scale and the Muslim Brotherhood at another. On our view, one should be phobic about it. [ConservativeHome] Read more

Burka ban applies to everyone, including the large cities, Dutch PM says

The burka ban will apply to everyone, also the Netherlands' large cities, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said in reaction to the news that the large cities won't prioritize enforcement of this ban on face covering clothing. "Let us first implement the law. Then the big cities will see that it also applies to them", he said.

Over the weekend Mayor Femke Halsema of Amsterdam said that the Dutch capital will not prioritize enforcing the ban. There are too few police officers in Amsterdam. If the priorities are set, the enforcement of the burka ban is at the bottom of the list, she said. Rotterdam and Utrecht will also not give the ban high priority.

Minister Kasja Ollongren of Home Affairs called the municipalities' position on the ban premature. The government is still discussing with all kinds of parties how the law will be implemented. But the government's position is clear - the law is the law and it applies to everyone.

The burka ban involves a ban on wearing face-covering clothing in public transit and public buildings like schools. It was adopted by the Dutch Senate over the summer. [NL Times] Read more

How Seehofer is pushing to 'replace foreign influence' at Islam Conference

On Wednesday and Thursday, the controversial Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CDU) is for the first time hosting the Islam Conference in Berlin, with integration as a top theme.

Shortly after becoming Interior Minister in March, Horst Seehofer announced that Islam "doesn’t belong to Germany" - a statement he has sought to reverse after the sharp criticism it generated.

The Bavarian interior minister, the host of this year’s Islamic Conference in Berlin, has said that Germany’s 4.5 million and growing Muslim population should live as part of German society rather than separately or even in opposition to it.

Namely, the Bavarian politician is pushing for mosques in Germany to train their imams in Germany rather than abroad, and depend less on foreign contributions, he announced in his opening talk on Wednesday.

Seehofer did not concretely say how mosques would receive funding in the future. He announced, however, that existing funding programmes for integration projects within the mosque communities would be expanded.

He wants to see that "German Muslims replace foreign influence not only organizing and financing their communities themselves, but also adapting imam training to their needs," Seehofer wrote in a guest article in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on Monday. [The Local] Read more

Islamophobia driving belief in myths about Muslims in British society, MPs say

Harmful myths and lies about Muslims are now believed by a large section of the UK's population, contributing to discrimination across employment, housing, the criminal justice system and other areas of public life, a new report by MPs has found.

The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on British Muslims found that “prevalent” Islamophobia was driving division, hate crime and even terror attacks.

.... While a report by market research company Ipsos Mori found that the majority of Muslims believe Islam is compatible with the British way of life, a separate survey of the wider population by polling firm YouGov, found that 46 per cent thought there was a “fundamental clash between Islam and the values of British society”.

A separate study recently found almost a third of British people believe the myth of “no-go zones” where non-Muslims cannot enter, while the MPs took aim at false and misleading news stories. [The Independent] Read more

Amsterdam obeys the law, says mayor about burqa ban row

Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema told a full meeting of the city council on Wednesday that her comments about the pending ‘burqa ban’ had been misunderstood.

Halsema was criticised by MPs and ministers for telling local broadcaster AT5 that she did not consider that ‘hauling someone out of the tram for wearing a niqab’ was ‘fitting’ in Amsterdam.

She also suggested there were better uses of scarce police manpower. But Halsema told councillors on Wednesday that the nuance in her statements had not been picked up. ‘The impression has been given that city and national politics are at odds,’ she said. ‘That is a misunderstanding. Amsterdam is a city which follows the law.’

Nevertheless there are higher priority problems, such as organised crime, threats against journalists and hand grenades being left outside shops, Halsema said. Rotterdam and Utrecht’s mayors have also said upholding the new law – which has not yet come into effect – is not a priority. [DutchNews] Read more

Seehofer tells Islam conference Muslims are a part of Germany

Some have called it a U-turn, others see it in less dramatic terms. Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has said that "Muslims are a part of Germany" on the opening day of the German Islam Conference.

Horst Seehofer said on Wednesday in Berlin that "Muslims belong to Germany," speaking as he presided over the fourth German Islam Conference (DIK). The comments drew particular attention given Seehofer's past statement that Islam was not part of Germany.

Seehofer said Muslims "have the same rights and duties as all citizens of this country." There can be "no reasonable doubt" about that, he said.

Seehofer, a conservative who's set to step down as leader of Bavaria's Christian Social Union (CSU), caused controversy in March when he said that "Islam doesn't belong to Germany," and that "Germany has been shaped by Christianity."

However, even in that March interview with mass-circulation daily Bild, Seehofer had said: "Muslims who live here are naturally part of Germany. That does not of course mean that we therefore give up on our country-specific traditions and customs out of false consideration." [Deutsche Welle] Read more

Islamophobia is so prevalent in the UK it has become the country's 'bigotry blind spot', MPs say

.... The report comes at the end of a six-month inquiry by the APPG, where victims across the country shared their experiences of Islamophobia. The inquiry also heard from politicians, lawyers and campaign groups.

Wes Streeting MP, co-chair of the APPG for British Muslims, said: "From attacks on hijab-wearing Muslim women on the streets through to the subtle institutional forms that deprives British Muslims an equal opportunity to flourish within our society, Islamophobia is a form of racism and it is growing in our society.

"To tackle it, Islamophobia must be accurately and fully defined and that’s why this inquiry centred around the discussion on a working definition."

The APPG says adopting a definition is not intended to curb free speech or criticism of Islam as a religion.

Home Office data shows that Muslims account for 52% of all recorded religious hate crime victims. A poll by ComRes last month found 58% of people agreed with the statement ‘Islamophobia is a real problem in today’s society’. [ITV] Read more

Take back your words about burqas, junior minister tells mayor

Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema’s comments about new legislation banning face covering garments from government buildings were ‘premature and inappropriate’, junior home affairs minister Raymond Knops said on Tuesday afternoon.

‘The comments were inappropriate and unfitting for the office of mayor,’ he told MPs in a reaction to questions. ‘Amsterdam’s mayor cannot continue to back this standpoint.

I am assuming she will take back her words and keep to the law.’ Halsema has been heavily criticized for telling local broadcaster AT5 she did not consider that ‘hauling someone out of the tram for wearing a niqab’ was ‘fitting’ in Amsterdam. She also suggested there were better uses of scarce police manpower.

Rotterdam and Utrecht’s mayors have also said upholding the new law – which has not yet come into effect – is not a priority. Halsema is likely to face questioning about her views at Wednesday’s full meeting of the city council. [DutchNews] Read more

The ‘Islamophobia’ problem

This is a good time to bury bad news. And sure enough it turns out that a cross-party group of MPs and peers that includes the failed MP Baroness Warsi has chosen this moment to try to persuade the government to adopt their own definition of ‘Islamophobia’.

Long-time readers will know that I have no sympathy for this term. The most succinct summary of the problem is often erroneously attributed to the late Christopher Hitchens. It is that, Islamophobia is ‘a word created by fascists, and used by cowards, to manipulate morons.’

That ‘Islamophobia’ was created by fascists is provable: the term was conjured up and pumped into the international debate around politics and religion decades ago by the Muslim Brotherhood.

The claim that it is used by cowards slightly lets others of its users off the hook. For it is not only used by cowards. It is also used by sinister and sectarian figures who wish to protect their own religious patch from any and all discussion or scrutiny. That it intimidates cowards is evident from every day’s news. [The Spectator] Read more

Why religious rules on butchering beasts make many people see red

.... The issue arises because for traditionally minded Jews and Muslims it is a matter of principle that animals slain for meat should be dispatched by a single swipe of a sharp knife, one that drains the blood and causes a rapid death. The death is not rapid enough for many animal-rights advocates, though.

Some Muslims accept that the animal can be stunned before slaughter (as is considered humane in most Western countries), so long as death still results from blood loss. Other Muslims feel unable to make that concession.

.... Arguments over this practice, pitting animal-welfare advocates against Muslim and to some extent Jewish groups, have been raging for at least five years in the north-west of England. In October, Lancashire County Council voted to reaffirm its determination to eliminate non-stunned meat from school meals, while the Lancashire Council of Mosques has pledged to redouble its efforts to block the ban.

This dispute might lead the Council of Mosques to call for a boycott of school meals, a tactic it has used in the past. Thanks to the NSS findings, the controversy may now spread to other parts of the country. [The Economist] Read more

Nearly two-thirds of Quebecers support public-sector ban on religious symbols, poll finds

Most Quebecers are in favour of banning public-sector workers from wearing religious symbols, according to a CROP poll released ahead of the first legislative session under a Coalition Avenir Québec government.

But a separate survey by Vox Pop Labs, conducted following the Oct. 1 election, suggests Quebecers may be more divided when it comes to the details of how such proposals should be implemented.

Premier François Legault indicated after last month's election that he will seek to bar civil servants in positions of authority from wearing religious symbols such as the kippa and hijab.

Not only would this apply to police officers, judges and Crown prosecutors, but also to school teachers, Legault said.

He justified his decision by saying it was the "position of a majority of Quebecers." [CBC News] Read more

"We Will Displace You" - Extremist Persecution of Christians, July 2018

There were 128 incidents of church vandalism or other anti-Christian attacks in France during the first five months of 2018, according to a Paris-based Roman Catholic non-profit organization that tracks attacks against Christians.

Zanzibar "has concealed Christian persecution for decades.... issues that the international community knows too little or nothing about....[T]he Christian body has been persecuted for so long." — Simon, pastor of a church, quoted by International Christian Concern.

Egypt: Police stood by and encouraged a Muslim mob attacking a church. After local Muslims in Ezbet Sultan Pasha village learned that Christians, who form about 20% of the population, were on their way to legalizing a church building, they surrounded it on July 6, after Friday prayers. "The protesters were chanting slogans against us [Christians], such as 'We don't want a church in our village,'" said one resident. "We locked ourselves in our homes during the demonstration because we were afraid that they would attack us. [Gatestone Institute] Read more

Pressure growing on Kirklees to reveal schools serving non-stunned halal meat

Pressure is growing on Kirklees Council to reveal which of its schools are serving meat from animals that are not pre-stunned before slaughter.

Among those calling for clarity over the council's policy is Batley & Spen MP Tracy Brabin, who says meat from non-stunned animals should be labelled and parents should be informed.

Meanwhile an online petition calling for all meat served in the borough's schools to be stunned before slaughter has been signed by more than 5,600 people.

The Labour-run authority has confirmed that dozens of schools in the borough use non-stunned halal meat "as part of their meal service provision".

Along with the other West Yorkshire authorities it sources its halal meat from Wakefield-based public sector procurer Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation (YPO).

The revelation has caused a furore amid concerns over animal welfare. The council has been asked to come clean over which schools use non-stunned meat and notification is given to parents, children and staff at schools where such meat is served. [ExaminerLive] Read more

Secular group questions Muslim hate preacher’s role in a UK charity

Dr Zakir Naik, above, is banned from entering Britain, but the Islamic preacher who has praised Osama Bin Laden and said all Muslims ‘should be terrorists’ is a trustee of a registered charity.

Now the National Secular Society (NSS) is demanding answers as to why the fanatic continues to be a trustee of the Islamic Research Foundation International (IRFI), a charity registered in England which owns the Islamic TV channel Peace TV.

This week it was reported that the UK’s communications regulator Ofcom is pursuing six separate investigations into Peace TV over concerns that it has breached the broadcasting code.

Malaysia-based Naik, who launched IRFI in 2006 and was banned from entering Britain in 2010, is listed on Peace TV’s website as its leading speaker.

Ofcom is investigating Peace TV for potential breaches of broadcasting rules designed to protect audiences from: Hate speech, offence and the incitement of crime. [Freethinker] Read more

Indonesia's 'millennials party' draws fire for comments on sharia bylaws

Police in Muslim-majority Indonesia have questioned the head of one of its newest and most progressive parties, who is battling accusations of “Islamophobia” from rival politicians, after she said her party opposed the growth of bylaws based on religion.

Indonesia is officially secular and has a tradition of pluralism but Islam has increasingly crept into politics in a country home to significant Christian, Hindu and other religious minorities.

Grace Natalie set up the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI), often dubbed the “millennials party”, in 2014 to offer an alternative for young voters disillusioned by traditional parties often run by an entrenched elite.

In a speech this week attended by President Joko Widodo, Natalie, who is ethnic Chinese, spoke out against intolerance, saying PSI would not support local regulations based on Islamic law or Christian scripture.

.... Police questioned Natalie following a complaint filed by Eggi Sudjana, a lawyer and politician of an Islamic party, who told Reuters her comments breached laws on hate speech and attacked religion. He urged her to apologize. [Reuters] Read more

Third of Brexit voters believe Muslim immigration is part of a secret plot to Islamicise Britain, study suggests

Nearly a third of Brexit voters believe Muslim immigration is part of a plot to Islamicise Britain, according to a major new study that has revealed a pattern of deep mistrust for authorities.

The survey, by researchers at Cambridge University and YouGov, is the most comprehensive examination of conspiracy theories ever conducted and is the first time academics have looked into questions of trust in the media and conspiracy beliefs across countries.

Asked if they believed “Muslim immigration to this country is part of a bigger plan to make Muslims a majority of this country's population”, 31 per cent of leave voters said they did.

The far-right conspiracy theory, known as the “great replacement”, originated in France and often apportions blame to perceived elites, such as the European Union.

The figure among Remain voters was six per cent.

Almost half leave voters (47%) believed the government was deliberately “hiding the truth” about how many immigrants live in the country, compared to 14 per cent of Remain voters. [The Independent] Read more

Austria prepares for headscarf ban in primary schools

If draft law passes parliament, children under 10 will be prohibited to wear headscarf, violations will be fined.

Austria's far-right government has introduced a draft law to the parliament to ban the headscarf in primary schools, planning to implement it without the support of the opposition.

Transport Minister Norber Hofer told a news conference following the Council of Ministers meeting on Wednesday that the government sent the draft law to the opposition parties.

Hofer said that no negotiations would be made with the opposition ahead of the voting of the draft law in the parliament, calling the opposition to vote in favor of it.

The draft prohibits children to wear Muslim headscarves before the age of 10 in all primary schools, including private schools across the country.

If the draft law is approved, parents who violate the ban will be subjected to pay a fine of 440 euros or serve two weeks jail time.

The ban will come into force in 2019 if it passes through the parliament.

The main opposition Social Democratic Party (SPO) and the New Austria and Liberal Forum (NEOS) said that the draft law should be comprehensively evaluated. [Anadolu Agency] Read more

Muslim leaders reject meeting with Prime Minister

Muslim leaders are refusing to meet Scott Morrison after "strongly" taking offence to the Prime Minister's suggestion that they should do more to combat extremism.

However, Mr Morrison says the private meeting will still go ahead with those who want to seriously deal with the issue "rather than look the other way".

The group of leaders, including Grand Mufti Ibrahim Abu Mohamed, signed a letter on Tuesday night telling Mr Morrison they wouldn't attend the meeting.

The letter said "statements made by senior government ministers and the Prime Minister in the recent past" had "achieved nothing to address underlying issues, but rather, have alienated large "segments of the Muslim community." [The Sydney Morning Herald] Read more