Hague: Child abuse in Koran classes to be investigated

Hague: Child abuse in Koran classes to be investigated

The prosecution in the Hague will investigate 49 cases of child abuse during Koran classes in mosques in the city, it was announced Tuesday.

The local GGD (municipal health department) received so many reports of child abuse that according to the youth health department (JGZ), it's a pattern. This is because the number of reports (49), is almost equal to the number of indications of domestic child abuse (52). While generally, in 93% of the cases of child abuse the offender is a parent or somebody else directly in charge of raising the kids. In total, about 4,600 files were investigated.

In April the Hague municipal council asked the city executive to study the problem after they got stories of children being beaten during Koran classes.

Half of the reports of child abuse were linked to classes in the El Islam mosque. On Monday Mayor Jozias van Aartsen and Alderman (Education, youth and sport), had a pointed talk with the mosque administration.

The mosque administration agrees with the municipality that child abuse is unacceptable and promised to be cooperative and open. The mosque also promised more supervision of Koran classes and to directly intervene if there's concrete indications of violence against children.

The El-Islam mosque also promised to suspend the work of the teachers suspected of child-abuse during the investigation.

The city executive will speak with more mosque administration in the near future. In addition, JGZ social workers will attempt to convince parents to lodge complaints if they suspect their children are being beaten. So far none of the parents was ready to do so in the cases which were discovered.

The Socialist Party in the city council wants a criminal case opened against the mosque. SP councilor Hiek van Driel: "I can't imagine that people from the administration didn't know that children in this mosque were so badly mistreated."

SMN, the umbrella organization for Moroccans in the Netherlands, says they've got reports from their people of possible cases of child abuse in mosques in the Hague, but also elsewhere.

"We know from our network that there are mosques where corporal punishment is meted out. That happens not only in the Hague but in a manner of speaking also in Amsterdam and Utrecht," said chairman Farid Azarkan Wednesday.

SMN says in a press release that it's "intolerable that children get corporal punishment." Azarkan says that teachers should keep their hands off the children. "That we've agreed with each other here in the Netherlands and everybody should keep to it."

The organization calls on mosque administrations to act against teachers who overstep the line and to take seriously parents and children who complain about child-abuse. The SMN will draw attention to this in its regular meeting with mosque organizations.

Azarkan asks for a nuanced discussion on the topic, saying that only a few mosques are guilty of such practices.

Sources: Telegraaf 1, 2; West (Dutch)

Netherlands: Turkish, Moroccan women needed in health-care

Netherlands: Turkish, Moroccan women needed in health-care

There should be more women of Turkish and Moroccan backgrounds in health care, according to a study "A tip of the veil". There is a strong taboo on physical contact with patients and direct association with colleagues at work in the more traditional Turkish and Moroccan community.

The study was carried out by the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS) Of the University of Amsterdam and the Dutch Centre for Expertise in Vocational Education and Training (ECBO) for SIGRA.

The conclusion is not new. It's been argued for years that immigrants should enter the health-care field. But Turkish and Moroccan women are rarely attracted to the field, unlike women of Surinamese or Antillean origins.

For the mostly Islamic women, the impediments to work in nursing are not so much religious as social-cultural. The study shows that how strict the social control is and how religion and life-orientation are seen at home is most critical.

The report gives various concrete solutions. There should be more informational campaigns on a wide-scale of the - mostly unknown - career opportunities and possibilities in health care.

In addition educational institutions could offer these vulnerable groups more guidance, but taking mentors and by devoting more attention in the curriculum to cultural diversity.

Finally, health-care institutions should adapt their care to these new target groups, out of social and financial reasons. New care arrangements could help in supplying care, and thereby increase market-share.

The researchers ask for a multicultural personnel policy, with concrete investment in education and career opportunities for potential novices. As one of the interviewed women said in the report: "An elephant doesn't fit in a giraffe skin."

Source: BSL (Dutch)

78% of Czechs, 70% of Slovaks oppose minarets

78% of Czechs, 70% of Slovaks oppose minarets

Of those who want to ban minarets, a large majority (70% among Czechs, 80% among Slovaks) also want to ban mosques. This is actually a lower correlation than results in previous polls that asked both questions (96% among Belgians, 90% among the French).

For more surveys on minaret bans in Europe see:
* Belgium: Majority oppose mosques and minarets
* France: 41% oppose more mosques, 46% oppose minarets
* Austrians oppose minaret ban, Italians want one
* More polls on minaret bans


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Most people in the Czech Republic and Slovakia would ban a possible construction of minarets, the daily Lidove noviny (LN) reports Wednesday, referring to a poll conducted by the NMS agency simultaneously in both countries.


(...)


According to the NMS poll conducted on 424 voters in the Czech Republic and 502 in Slovakia, 78 percent of Czech respondents and 70 percent of Slovaks would vote against minarets in a referendum.


Moreover, 54 percent of Czechs and 56 percent of Slovaks would ban the construction of both minarets and new mosques, Tomas Dvorak, from NMS, told LN.


The poll also shows that Czechs and Slovaks mind new mosques less than minarets. Only one-third of the polled strictly oppose mosques, others do not want them only in "their surroundings."


Nevertheless, Muslims in the Czech Republic are not considering building minarets for the time being, LN writes.


Muneeb Hassan, from the Islamic community, said minarets are rather a pretext. "Those who mind Islam and Muslims are against minarets," he told LN.


(more)

Source: Prague Monitor (English), h/t EuropeNews

Spain: Recruitment, funding for AQIM

Spain: Recruitment, funding for AQIM


Via T&P (via El País)


Last reports sent to Spanish Government by the National Inteligence Center (CNI), the General Police and Civil Guard Information Office point out that Spain is a "recruitment ground" and "constant source of funding" of AQIM (Al-Qaeda for an Islamic Maghreb). There are around 30 open investigations now in Spain about Islamist terrorism which have this group as their target.


(..)


"It's very difficult to know how much money they have raised here, but in the last years, they have received from Spain a million euros at least", according to an agent from the General Information Office. Stealing is not the only way to fund the movement: there are also donations made to continue the jihad in Africa using the net of halal meat butchers and the zakat (alms) from some radical mosques. A joint group of Spanish and French Judges and Prosecutors, studies the phenomenon of funding channels for AQIM. "The money is send without any stops. We are an inexhaustible source, but this is very difficult to fight because most of it moves through hawala (a payment system held outside the traditional finance system)" according to one member of the equipment.


Salafists which fund and recruit for the Sahel are all over Spain. Since 11S, the moment when the police was awakened and began carrying on "preventive" detentions, an important number of their militants have been recruited in Andalucía, Ceuta y Melilla, Basque Country, Navarra, Aragón, Madrid and Catalonia. Some judges from National Court, like Baltasar Garzón, have questioned in their offices hundreds of their militants and are familiar with their practices and targets.


(..)


The pledge to Bin Laden and this call for the union of the Mujahideens have achieved what looked like impossible: all the Jihadist groups from the north of Africa are united, a time bomb of unknown and unforseeable differences. So, the salafists from the GSPC bind today to the Moroccan Islamic Fighter Group (GICM), the Lybian Islamic Fighter Group, the Tunisian movements and other satellites, according to the CNI's analysts. In 2007, Islam's lion (Osama bin Laden) let the GSPC Argelian terrorists to be renamed as "Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb", the group that had kidnapped the three Spanbish volunteers. "This blessing has turned them into a model in the north of Africa, so a lot of people would like to be recruited by them. Dozens of them have already done that from Spain", according to UC2's Chief, the Civil Guard's unit which investigates on Islamist terrorism. A nightmare for the European intelligence services, specially for Spain and France, as they fear that Salafists will train their men on the desert and then order them to strike on European targets.


(more)

Netherlands: Muslim TV recognises Ahmadiyya

Netherlands: Muslim TV recognises Ahmadiyya


A Dutch Muslim broadcasting company which applied for airtime has recognised the Ahmadiyya sect as a major current in Islam. Such a recognition is unique in the world.


Ahmadiyya is a sectarian movement within Islam which is not recognised as Islamic by the main institutions of orthodox Islam. Many Dutchmen of Surinamese origin belong to Ahmadiyya.


Its recognition by the aspiring broadcaster (SMO) was revealed in a leaked e-mail message of which Radio Netherlands Worldwide possesses a copy. In the message SMO expresses its willingness to share its hoped-for broadcasting licence with another company, provided that it too recognises Ahmadiyya.


(more)

Source: RNW (English)

London: Father convicted of honor killing charges

London: Father convicted of honor killing charges


Mehmet Goren, the father of 15-year-old Muslim schoolgirl Tulay Goren, has been convicted of her murder in a family "honour killing" in London.


Tulay, who had come to Britain from the Kurdish region of Turkey, was drugged, tortured and then killed by her father Mehmet Goren, over her relationship with an older man of whom Mehment Goren and his relations did not approve.


Although Tulay's body has never been found, her father Mehmet Goren, 49, was found guilty of murder at the Old Bailey after a 10-week trial.
 

He was cleared of conspiracy to murder Halil Unal, Tulay's former boyfriend who survived being attacked with an axe by Mehmet, two weeks after the schoolgirl vanished.


Mehmen Goren's older brother Ali and younger brother Cuma were each cleared of charges of murder and conspiracy to murder.


The trial heard how Tulay, who came to Britain at the age of 12, was assaulted by her father, a Shia Muslim, who was angered by her relationship with Mr Unal, who was twice her age and a Sunni Muslim.


In the weeks before her disappearance, Tulay ran away from home twice and personally reported two attacks on her by her father. Her boyfriend also reported an assault.


However, despite Tulay's refusal to go home, she was lured back three weeks later, in January 1999, and disappeared the next day.


(more)


Source: Telegraph

Switzerland: Minaret appeal filed with Strasbourg court (UPDATE)

Switzerland: Minaret appeal filed with Strasbourg court

Update: More appeals


An appeal against the decision by Swiss voters to ban the construction of minarets has been submitted to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.


It was lodged on Tuesday afternoon, said Pierre de Preux, a lawyer acting for Hafid Ouardiri, the former spokesman of the Geneva mosque.


Ouardiri wants the Strasbourg court to rule that the ban is incompatible with the European human rights convention.


De Preux told the AP news agency that a letter had been sent to the federal government and to all the members of the Council of Europe to inform them of this step.


(more)


Source: SwissInfo (English)

News in Short

News in Short

Overview of recent news stories. 


France

Afghans deported - France deported 10 Afghans on a charter flight. (EN)

New halal restaurant - the fast food Quick branch in the Villeurbanne suburb of Lyon has switched to a completely halal menu, and has seen turnover increase by 30%. (FR)

Burqa ban - France will probably ban the burqa only in public buildings, as a general ban will not survive legal challenges  (EN)

Mini Mali - Collinée is a village of fewer than 1000 inhabitants. Thirty years ago, the local abattoir had a severe staff shortage. A dozen Malians came here to work and were later joined by their wives and children. Today, one inhabitant in ten is Malian. (EN)


Belgium

Proposal to ban all religious symbols - The Open Vld, PS, MR and Ecolo parties wanted a complete separation of Church and State.  This would have included a complete ban on headscarves in public service, as well as religious symbols such as crosses at the entrance to cemeteries.  The proposal was rejected by the Belgian Senate. (NL, NL h/t PI)

Call to prayer foreign - Former Flemish minister Marino Keulen objects to having the muezzin call to prayer in Beringen.  He says that Church bells have been used for centuries as clocks, and to announce deaths and marriages.  The sound of church bells is therefore a cultural inheritance.  The call of the muezzin, he says, is in Arabic, and is foreign to this area. (NL)


Netherlands

Choir leaves Christmas event - The New Creation gospel choir canceled its appearance in a Christmas lighting ceremony in Heerenveen.  Two women from the Turkish mosque lit a candle and spoke about what the Light meant to them.  When the choir could not speak about their religious convictions, they left.  They later explained on their site that they did not leave because there were Muslims there, but because the organizers did not let them express themselves (NL)

Psychological problems - According to a new study, first generation immigrants in vocational education have less psychological problems than their ethnic Dutch schoolmates.  But by the second generation, they lose that advantage. (NL, h/t Allochtonen Weblog)

Child abuse in Koran class - The health department in the Hague turned to the police and prosecution to investigate possible child abuse in Koran classes in several mosques.  In April the municipal council decided to investigate the issue.  So many reports of possible child abuse were received that the GGD says it's a pattern.  Half of the suspected cases are from the El Islam mosque.  The mosque administration agrees that child abuse is unacceptable and promised to be open and cooperative on the issue.  (NL, h/t NRP)


Switzerland

Guantanamo detainees - Switzerland is willing to accept one detainee from Guantanamo  (EN)

The Escalade festivities - Pastor Philippe Reymond of Geneva decided to use the Escalade festivities to show his support for Muslims.  Youth from the different religious communities joined in the ceremony. (FR)



Spain

Metro attack convictions - 11 men, mostly Pakistanis, were convicted of plotting to attack the Barcelona metro. (EN)

Mosque controversy - The controversy around the mosque construction in Jerónimos, Seville continues.  The Muslim community organized a protest against racism and xenophobia.  (ES, video included)



Norway

Immigrations to solve substance abuse - Thorvald Stoltenberg, head of the Norwegian Red Cross, says that two things are needed to solve substance abuse: money and people.  "I think we should stop speaking about immigration as a problem and rather see it as part of the solution to the problem," he said. (NO)

Police to come to Friday prayer - Muslims in Stavanger feel hurt and discriminated by the way the police handled the taxi-rapist issue.  The Muslim community invited the police to the mosque to talk about their police work.  The Muslims also intend to teach newly arrived asylum seekers about Norwegian social codes and what is expected of newcomers. (NO)


Sweden

Mosque gets new owner - The biggest mosque in Scandinavia, the grand mosque in Rosengård, Malmö, was bought by the Libyan organization World Islamic Call Society. The World Islamic Call Society gave the money for building the mosque in the 1980s, and has now taken over ownership, in order to do PR for Muammar Gaddafi. (SR)



United Kingdom

Radio agony aunt murdered - Police are investigating whether a murdered Asian radio agony aunt could have been bludgeoned to death by a listener angered by her on-air involvement in family feuds. (EN)

Amsterdam: Why headscarves and not crosses [2]

Amsterdam: Why headscarves and not crosses [2]

Last week I posted a story about a Christian tram driver in Amsterdam who sued his employers, GVB, in order to be able to wear a cross on a chain.  The driver, Ezzat Aziz, said that just as Muslim employees are allowed to wear a headscarf as part of their uniform (with the company's logo), he should be allowed to wear his cross.  A judge rejected the driver's claim, saying that the company is allowed to ban all necklaces.

Via NRP, Dutch journalist Carel Brendel writes about an interview the judge, Eric Marres, gave to Amsterdam broadcaster AT5.

"Two aspects play a role.  First, the external expression of professionalism, but particularly also the safety of the people plays a role.  It's very possible that this employee of GVB will be confronted with aggressiveness from travelers and such a chain makes you vulnerable then."

Marres continues: "For a Muslim woman there's a religious obligation to cover her hair. In my opinion there's no religious obligation for Christians to wear the sign of the cross on your clothing."

Brendel thinks the judge should not be using Sharia law as a standard, but it seems to me that there's a more problematic point in what the judge is saying.   The judge is saying that freedom of religion is actually based on religious obligations.  You can sue for freedom of religion only if your religion obligates you to do something.  But when comparing Christian and Muslim obligations, Islam will always triumph.  That's because Islam, similarly to Judaism, is based on obligations rather than faith.  These religious obligations - what you may or may not do - affect every moment of your life.  There are no comparable Christian obligations.

This is not only a question of whether Dutch law should take every person's religious obligations into account, but also whether it's the only thing it should take into account. 

UK: Possible bomb plot foiled

UK: Possible bomb plot foiled

The man and his brother were both sentenced for identity fraud, and were since released and deported to Algeria.

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Police have released the footage they found, recorded around the third anniversary of July 7 last year, that showed four key London stations – Liverpool Street, Oxford Circus, Camden Town and Mornington Crescent.


Officers believe he was filming possible sites for an attack to take to senior terrorist controllers in North Africa.
 

In an hour and a half of footage, the man tried to hide the red light that showed he was filming as he focused on entrances, exits and CCTV cameras, at one point commenting in a lift: "There are cameras there. There are cameras everywhere."


The camera was occasionally tipped on its side, in a similar way to footage taken by the al-Qaeda terrorist Dhiren Barot, which officers believe was a signal to indicate he was filming a potential target.


When they raided the man's flat in Brent, North West London, they discovered radical literature connected to al-Qaeda and a list of shopping centres.


Inquiries subsequently discovered the man had previously lived in Wood Green, North London with Mustapha Labsi, an Algerian deported to France in connection with an alleged plot to attack the G7 summit in Lille in 1994.


He had also been in contact with another suspected terrorist cell and had been a regular visitor to Finsbury Park mosque when the radical preacher Abu Hamza was based there, sources told The Daily Telegraph.


Police believe the man, an illegal immigrant from Algeria in his early forties, had raised hundreds of thousands of pounds to fund terrorism through credit card fraud.


(more)

Source: Telegraph