Nadia Geerts
For several years – some witnesses say more than 15 years – Muslim students have been praying every day in part of the library of the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB). A practice that has become so commonplace that they have even stored a few boxes of equipment there: prayer mats, veils, laminated texts of invocations to recite. And the statue that decorates the room is permanently covered with a sheet. But ever since the facts came to light in the press, thanks to the anonymous testimony of a member of staff, the question has come up again and again: “So what’s the problem?” So, I’m going to try and answer it.
Emmanuel Razavi
The rapper Médine, who has been accused of anti-Semitism, was the guest of honour at summer conference of ‘‘Europe Ecologie Les Verts (EELV) and ‘‘La France Insoumise’’ (LFI). An invitation that speaks volumes about the state of intellectual and moral decay of the French radical left.
Nadia Geerts
Solidaris is the name of the socialist mutual societies in Belgium. A venerable institution, it was founded in 1869 as a cooperative and mutual aid fund in Fayt-lez-Manage, Wallonia. Since then, the Mutualités Socialistes have grown considerably, with a grassroots presence in Wallonia, Flanders and Brussels, working “on a daily basis to humanise change and reinvent a model of society that is inclusive, emancipating and sustainable”.
Every year since 1998, Solidaris has been organising a festival in Namur that brings together “a family audience where all generations come together around the same desire for togetherness, social justice and the fight against inequality”.
atmane tazaghart
Those who have dismissed the recent wave of urban violence in France as yet another suburban riot are suffering from acute socio-political short-sightedness. Admittedly, the spark that ignited the violence is reminiscent of previous riots following police blunders that cost the lives of young people from the suburbs, as was the case in October 2005, after the deaths of Zyad and Bouna in Clichy-sous-Bois. Except that, unlike the 2005 riots, the recent urban violence cannot be blamed solely on the suburbs.
Hamid Zanaz
Social networks have certainly facilitated communication and the sharing of information between young people living on housing estates during the latest outbreak of violence. Hence the rapid spread of acts of destruction and looting throughout France. But Nahel’s death was merely a pretext for settling scores with French society, which is accused of being responsible for all the ills suffered by young people of immigrant origin. Hate messages against the host society had already been circulating on the web for a long time. And on Facebook, Telegram, TikTok and Twitter, Islamists and other extremist groups are working day and night to use these networks of discord for propaganda and recruitment purposes, or to incite minors and young adults to smash, loot and set fire to all the symbols of the Republic.
Hamid Zanaz
According to the French Ministry of the Interior, 357 clashes between gangs were recorded in 2020, an increase of almost 25% compared to the 288 recorded in 2019. In March 2020, the government declared a general mobilisation against brawls between young people, after several fatal brawls, particularly in the Ile-de-France region. An emergency: every 44 seconds, according to an INSEE survey, a gratuitous violence is committed. A complaint is filed every two minutes!
Roland Jacquard
The Russian invasion of Ukrainian has led to the Swiss government imposing sanctions on Russia and wealthy Russians close to Vladimir Putin by freezing their Swiss bank accounts. Lately, Switzerland is also “closely monitoring” Chinese wealth in Swiss banks following the intelligence input – that Beijing is considering supplying Russia with lethal weapons, such as drones and munitions. According to a Financial Times report, Switzerland’s tough stance on sanctions has fueled concern among wealthy Chinese about whether keeping their money in Switzerland is safe.
Nadia Geerts
On 18 November 2022, the Brussels Court of First Instance condemned an Internet user, considering that his comment published on the social network Facebook seriously called into question my honour and reputation, which are rights guaranteed by Article 8 of the European Court of Human Rights. The court found that the comment called into question my ethics and my competence as a teacher “by imputing to her a subjectivity and xenophobia that would not allow her to give exams without an assessor by her side”, without presenting any verifiable factual elements.
Emmanuel Razavi
In Iran, feminist demands are at the root of the popular mobilisation against the Mullahs’ regime. By removing or burning their veils in public, Iranian women are showing their opposition to an ageing and worn-out theocracy. As the first victims of oppression, they know better than anyone the extent to which the Islamic Republic has made this object one of its ideological pillars, relegating women de facto to the rank of inferior beings.
atmane tazaghart
Between the time he slipped away from the French police who came to arrest him at his home in Lourches on August 30, and his arrest by the Belgian police near Mons on September 30, the case of the Muslim brother preacher, Hassan Iquioussen, has been extensively commented on.
His profile as a self-proclaimed imam with controversial remarks; his career as a “city preacher” in the shadow of “Muslims of France” (Ex-UOIF), the French branch of the Muslim Brotherhood; his figurative career as an Islamo-youtubeur, whose video-sermons count more than 34 million views; were examined from every angle.
