Protesters gathered at a popular beach in Mogadishu to condemn al-Shabab. Less than a week ago, militants from the group had murdered twenty people at a restaurant in Lido beach. The demonstration attracted hundreds to the same beach in solidarity with the dead. Some used the hashtag #LiidoDemonstration to promote the protest. Hundreds of Somalis have gathered at the scene of an attack on a local beach Liido to demonstrate against #AlShabaab pic.twitter.com/pAcmBln6Tz — Farhan Jimale (@farhanjimale) January 28, 2016 #LiidoDemonstration in support of victims that lost their lives in #Alshabab attack last week. pic.twitter.com/jo0TrkjjkV — Omar H. Ibrahim (@MrOmarHaji) January 28, 2016 Others joined the conversation to highlight broad disdain for Al-Shabab inside Somalia. And praise those attending the protest. Others chanted that al-Shabab has ‘no religion’. #LiidoDemonstration = act of bravery from people daring to defy & differ from terrorists trying to hold their city hostage. #Somalia — A A Mohamoud (@AliMohamoud) January 28, 2016 SOmalia will never die, lets keep hope alive #givepeaceachance #liidodemonstration — Mohamed Jama (@MascuudJaMa) January 28, 2016 Glad to see #LiidoDemonstration taking place in #Mogadishu & for ppl to speak against terror. — H. (@Le_anah) January 28, 2016 #LiidoDemonstration leave alone somalia, terrorism/ [...]
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A Ukip MEP called for an end to immigration from Islamic countries during a debate on the crimes of ISIS on January 20. Gerard Batten, who represents London, argued that ISIS represents “a literalist interpretation” of the Qur’an. Batten claimed that “ISIS represents a revival of the original ethos of the Mohammedan cult”. He defended these comments and told Religious Reader yesterday that “ISIS represents the worst excesses of the Mohammedan cult”. When asked for further clarification he insisted that his purpose “was not to upset any individual but to talk about a belief system, an ideology”. Batten maintains that “Islam is of course a cult”. A ‘cult’ that “up until relatively recently was properly referred to as ‘Mohammedanism’ in the West'”. This religious literalism, for Batten, remains antithetical to ‘western liberal democracy’. And drives his desire to end immigration from Islamic countries. As ‘importing millions’ from Islamic countries may constitute a security risk since “we cannot be sure of just how many of them take their religion literally?” Batten holds little sympathy for men fleeing ISIS. He told Religious Reader that: “Most of the waves of migrants coming to Europe, and queuing up at Calais are not fleeing ISIS, [...]
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Not to be out-done in the scraping the bottom of the political barrel, extremist group Britain First sent out circulars by e-mail stating that self-appointed Britain First leader, Paul Golding, would be standing for the Mayor of London. The circular hyped up the publicity that individuals and political parties will get through a two page
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Do you remember January 2013 when members of a ‘Muslim Patrol’ were handing out morality advice to passers-by in Whitechapel in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. They also harassed members of the public commentating on how they needed to cover up and members of this group also went on to be convicted and jailed
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Do you remember January 2013 when members of a ‘Muslim Patrol’ were handing out morality advice to passers-by in Whitechapel in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. They also harassed members of the public commentating on how they needed to cover up and members of this group also went on to be convicted and jailed
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Do you remember January 2013 when members of a ‘Muslim Patrol’ were handing out morality advice to passers-by in Whitechapel in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. They also harassed members of the public commentating on how they needed to cover up and members of this group also went on to be convicted and jailed
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Do you remember January 2013 when members of a ‘Muslim Patrol’ were handing out morality advice to passers-by in Whitechapel in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. They also harassed members of the public commentating on how they needed to cover up and members of this group also went on to be convicted and jailed
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We have been notified of a Facebook page called ‘Poland – Birmingham‘ which highlights an area of growing concern for us. Over the last 4 years, we have not highlighted this issue since we have believed that a migrant community that has also suffered a great deal of prejudice and bigotry deserves support and no
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A Maryland county will allow Muslim and Hindu students a day off from school to celebrate Diwali and Eid al-Adha. The Howard County Board of Education faced a tough decision: to foster inclusion by removing all religious holidays from the academic calender; Or add extra days to include non-Abrahamic celebrations. A unanimous decision in favour of the latter will result in school closings or professional development days for staff in the 2016/17 academic year. The board also voted to allow staff to take a professional development day off for Lunar News Years Eve, after requests from the local Chinese and Korean communities. As it falls on a Saturday, students remain unaffected. Schools in the county have shut during Jewish holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. But a recent motion threatened to end this tradition. It proved controversial enough to attract more than 300 people to a public hearing in December. State and federal laws prevent schools from closing on religious holidays (unless mandated otherwise). Adjusting academic calenders requires a secular reason. Baltimore County had recorded a large levels of absenteeism during these Jewish holidays. Art Abramson, Executive Director of Baltimore’s Jewish Council, welcomed changes to academic calenders on the [...]
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Muhammadu Buhari, a Sunni Muslim and a former military dictator, has surprisingly won the 2015 Presidential elections in Nigeria after three consecutive defeats. Buhari has campaigned on a platform of ‘change’, promising economic stability, to curb corruption and to utilise political strength in tackling the terrorist group, Boko Haram. The Buhari government, however, has faced international criticism, due to the clash between the army and the minority Shia community in Zaria. Reports of events prior to the clash are unclear, the army asserts that the Nigerian Chief of Army Staff, Genenral Tukur Buratai, was blockaded near Zaria and the convoy was attacked by a petrol bomb. The Shia Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) deny any attack occurred and demand the release of their leader Ibraheem Zakzaky. The government forces raided Zakzaky’s home and the whereabouts of his wife and sons are unknown. The IMN have stated that they have been killed in the raid, however, the Nigerian authorities have declared that his wife is in custody. Iran has condemned the attacks and called for the release of the Shiite leader. The movement has also been confronted by Boko Haram. The problem remains complex: it would be too simplistic to apportion [...]
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