Austria Passes New Law on Islam Over Fears of Extremism

ARUTZ SHEVA: Austria calls for standardized German-language translations of the Koran, prohibits foreign funding of Muslim organizations.

Austria on Thursday called for standardized German-language translations of the Koran and moved to prohibit foreign funding of Muslim organizations on its soil in a draft law aimed in part at tackling Islamic extremism, Reuters reports.

The bill will overhaul a 1912 law governing the status of Austrian Muslims, prompting concern from a major local Islamic body, which saw it mirroring widespread mistrust of Muslims.

"The clear message should be that there is no contradiction between being a faithful Muslim and a proud Austrian," said Foreign Affairs and Integration Minister Sebastian Kurz, a member of the conservative People's Party, according to Reuters.

"If you don't have orderly legal regulation ... this can always bring dangers (of extremism). In this sense, if you like this is maybe a part of prevention," he told reporters.

He added that Sharia, or Islamic law, had "no place here". » | Arutz Sheva Staff | Friday, October 03, 2014

Austria: Civil Law vs. Sharia Law

GATESTONE INSTITUTE: Austria has emerged as a major base for radical Islam and as a central hub for European jihadists to fight in Syria.

The proposed revisions would, among other changes, regulate the training and hiring of Muslim clerics, prohibit the foreign funding of mosques, and establish an official German-language version of the Koran to prevent its "misinterpretation" by Islamic extremists.

Muslims would be prohibited from citing Islamic sharia law as legal justification for ignoring or disobeying Austrian civil laws.

Leaders of Austria's Muslim community counter that the contemplated new law amounts to "institutionalized Islamophobia."

Official statistics show that nearly 60% of the inhabitants of Vienna are immigrants or foreigners. The massive demographic and religious shift underway in Austria, traditionally a Roman Catholic country, appears irreversible.

The Austrian government has unveiled a sweeping overhaul of the country's century-old "Islam Law" that governs the legal status of Austria's Muslim community.

The proposed revisions—which are aimed at cracking down on Islamic extremism in Austria—would regulate the training and hiring of Muslim clerics, prohibit the foreign funding of mosques, and establish an official German-language version of the Koran, among other changes.

The government says the modifications would give Muslims legal parity with other religious groups in Austria. But the leaders of Austria's Muslim community counter that the contemplated new law amounts to "institutionalized Islamophobia."

The updated Islam Law (Islamgesetz) was presented as a draft bill to parliament on October 2 and overhauls the current law, which dates back to 1912. » | Soeren Kern | Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Pakistani Court Upholds Death Sentence for Christian Woman Accused of Insulting Islam

FOX NEWS: Asia Bibi was harvesting berries in Pakistan five years ago when she took the drink of water that could cost her her life.

A Christian in the Muslim-dominated and increasingly intolerant nation, the mother of five was quickly assailed by the other women working the field in a tiny village in the Punjab province. First they said they would not drink from the same water bucket as a Christian. Later, they told police Bibi had insulted the Muslim Prophet Mohammad. The crime, blasphemy, is punishable by death.

Bibi, who denies insulting Mohammad and maintains her co-workers falsely accused her, was convicted in 2010. Last week, despite an international outcry, a court in Lahore upheld the verdict and affirmed the sentence that Bibi be hanged. The 50-year-old has 30 days to appeal to the nation's highest court.

“This is a grave injustice,” said David Griffiths, Amnesty International’s deputy Asia Pacific director. “Asia Bibi should never have been convicted in the first place – still less sentenced to death – and the fact that she could pay with her life for an argument is sickening.” » | Lisa Daftari | Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Some Revere Parents Upset over Islam in Curriculum

7News Boston WHDH-TV
Read the article here | Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Latinos Converting to Islam for Identity, Structure

VOICE OF AMERICA: MIAMI— Latinos are one of the fastest growing groups in the Muslim religion.

According to the organization whyIslam.org, about 6 percent of American Muslims are Latino.

And according to Latino American Dawah Organization (LADO), a group that promotes Latino conversions, a little more than half of new converts are female.

Greisa Torres arrived in Miami four years ago from Cuba.

While she felt at home in the Florida city, where two out of the three residents are Hispanic, Torres says she lost her identity in the move and found it in the Prophet Muhammad. » | Carolyn Presutti | Saturday, October 18, 2014

Paris Opera Cast Refuse to Perform for Veiled Woman

La Traviate at the Opéra Bastille

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A woman wearing a full-face veil is told to leave a performance of La Traviata at the Opéra Bastille after the production refuse to go on stage

A woman wearing an full-face Islamic veil was told to leave a Paris opera house after members of the cast refused to perform if she remained in the audience, officials said.

The woman, described as “a tourist from a Gulf state”, was sitting on the front row during a performance of La Traviata at the Opéra Bastille, the deputy director, Jean-Philippe Thiellay, said.

France banned the wearing of the full-face veil, or niqab, in public in 2011. The ban was upheld by the European Court of Human Rights earlier this year.

Mr Thiellay said performers told him during the second act that they would only continue if the woman left. During the interval, an attendant told her that she could stay if she removed her veil.

"He told her that in France there is a ban of this nature, asked her to either uncover her face or leave the room,” Mr Thiellay said. “The man asked the woman to get up, they left." » | David Chazan, Paris | Monday, October 20, 2014

A Look at the Rise of ISIS

Burka-Verbot in Frankreich: Verschleierte Touristin aus Pariser Oper geworfen

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Weil eine Frau in der ersten Reihe einen Nikab anhatte, wollten die Sänger der Pariser Oper nicht singen. In Frankreich ist das Tragen eines Ganzkörperschleiers gesetzlich verboten. Die Touristin aus der Golfregion wurde des Theaters verwiesen.

Paris - Eine vollverschleierte Zuschauerin ist während einer Vorführung von "La Traviata" aus der Pariser Oper geschickt worden. Die Frau habe in der ersten Reihe direkt hinter dem Dirigenten gesessen und sei bis auf die Augen verschleiert gewesen, sagte der stellvertretende Direktor der Oper an der Bastille, Jean-Philippe Thiellay, der Nachrichtenagentur AFP. Einige Chorsänger hätten erklärt, sie würden nicht singen, solange die Frau mit dem Nikab dort sitze. » | Montag, 20. Oktober 2014

Robert Spencer and Michael Coren on Jihad and the War on Free Speech

If You Smoke or Play Music, I'll Have You Whipped, Says 'Supermarket Jihadi' Who Left Britain to Join ISIS in Syria

MAIL ON SUNDAY: Omar Hussain worked as a security guard for Morrisons in High Wycombe / The 27-year-old fanatic left Britain to join Islamic State militants in Syria / Previously appeared in a video calling David Cameron a 'despicable swine' / Now revealed he is working for ISIS' police force in de facto capital Raqqa

The 'Supermarket Jihadi' who left Britain to become a fighter in Syria is now a policeman for Islamic State, cracking down on such 'crimes' as smoking or listening to music.

Omar Hussain, 27, from High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, who was a former security guard for Morrisons, said on social media that he is now a member of the hisbah, the IS all-male police force.

The fanatic, who this month appeared in an IS video online in which he calls David Cameron a 'despicable swine', lives in Raqqa, where he arrests residents on the street or in their houses. Those found guilty of offences are lashed in public.

Last week, Hussain posted a picture on Facebook of cartons of cigarettes, which he boasted he had seized from a house.

Smoking or playing music is punishable with up to 30 lashes in IS-controlled areas of Iraq and Syria. Read on and comment » | Abul Taher for the Mail On Sunday | Sunday, October 19, 2014

Terrorist Paymaster Targeted by Britain

Abd al-Rahman bin Umayr al-Nuaymi

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: One of the world’s most prolific terrorist financiers Abd al-Rahman bin Umayr al-Nuaymi has finally been banned from doing business in Britain — 10 months after he was hit with sanctions by the United States.

One of the world’s most prolific terrorist financiers has finally been banned from doing business in Britain — 10 months after he was hit with sanctions by the United States.

Abd al-Rahman bin Umayr al-Nuaymi, a Qatari who is accused of sending more than £1 million a month to al-Qaeda jihadists in Iraq, has been added to a list of terrorist suspects and groups targeted with financial sanctions in Britain.

The move by the Treasury will freeze any assets he has in the UK and prevent any banks with British offices from dealing with him.

It follows The Sunday Telegraph’s Stop the Funding of Terror campaign, which has highlighted how Gulf states — including Qatar — have turned a blind eye to terror financiers operating within their midst.

The decision to subject al-Nuaymi to sanctions will inevitably intensify pressure on ministers to tighten restrictions against Qatar and other Gulf states accused of harbouring terrorist financiers. » | Tim Ross, Robert Mendick and Edward Malnick | Saturday, October 18, 2014

Saudisches Todesurteil löst Proteste aus

NEUE LUZERNER ZEITUNG: SAUDI-ARABIEN ⋅ Unbekannte haben sich im Osten Saudi-Arabiens ein Feuergefecht mit der Polizei geliefert und dabei eine Ölleitung in Brand gesetzt. Über mögliche Verletzte machte die Polizei keine Angaben. Schreiben Sie einen Kommentar » | sda/dpa | Samstag, 18. Oktober 2014

Ausweis-Entzug für Islamisten

Deutschland will die Ausreise von gewaltbereiten Islamisten in den Dschihad nach Syrien oder den Irak verhindern. Darum soll ihnen neben dem Pass nun auch der Personalausweis entzogen werden. Dies entschieden die Innenminister von Bund und Ländern.

Phyllis Chesler: Life Inside the Muslim World

Oct. 14, 2014 - 6:27 - Author Phyllis Chesler recounts her experience

An American Bride in Kabul: A Memoir »

Buy the book here

The Phyllis Chesler Organization »

Former ISIS Hostage: French Journalist Nicolas Henin

Read the Mail Online article here | Friday, October 17, 2014

Living Next Door to ISIS

Deutschland kämpft mit radikalen Islamisten im eigenen Land

Vor allem in einem Bundesland werben salafistische Gruppen Jugendliche an – auch ganz gezielt für den IS. Rund 400 Deutsche sind bereits nach Syrien und in andere Länder gezogen, um mit IS-Milizen in den Kampf zu ziehen. SRF-Korrespondent Adrian Arnold hat sich umgesehen.

Hier kann man kommentieren.

Ray Cole: My Time in a Moroccan Jail for Being Gay Was 'Hell on Earth'

69-year-old Ray Cole was four weeks into a holiday in Morocco when he was charged with breaking the country's strict anti-gay laws. A local man, Jamal, with whom he'd struck up a relationship, was also arrested and both men were thrown in jail. Having spent 19 days in an overcrowded cell, Cole was eventually released following a high-profile campaign by his family, but he remains haunted by his ordeal. Now he has begun a campaign to be reunited with Jamal, who may be eligible to claim asylum in the UK
Watch the video here | Thursday, October 16, 2014

Queen Rania: Extremism Is Everyone’s Battle

Read the Telegraph article here | Thursday, October 16, 2014

John Cantlie: Lend Me Your Ears

Read the Telegraph article here | Thursday, October 16, 2014