Islam
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23 September 2011Le Monde Paris
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Europe-Syria
“Your silence is killing us”
2 August 20112Corriere della Sera Milan -
France
Muslims increasingly devout
1 August 20111PresseuropLa Croix -
Norway and after
Populism – handle with care
26 July 20116Trouw Amsterdam -
27 June 201112Trouw Amsterdam
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Debate
Transatlantic populism
6 May 20114De Morgen Brussels -
Palestinian Territories
Italian activist murdered in Gaza
15 April 2011PresseuropIl Manifesto -
Opinion
Burqa ban — a false move
11 April 20119The Independent London -
Burqa ban
Islam in Europe – a real problem
11 April 20112Rzeczpospolita Warsaw -
Arab revolutions
Seven reasons to be hopeful
17 February 20111PresseuropDie Zeit -
United Kingdom
Multiculturalism takes another hit
7 February 20112Presseurop -
EU-Middle East
Time to ditch the Arab stereotype
4 February 20113Der Standard Vienna -
France-Germany
Hostility to Islam on the rise
5 January 2011PresseuropLe Monde -
Integration
In the eighth circle of hell
3 January 20114Die Tageszeitung Berlin -
THE 10 DAYS OF EUROPE | 7
When my daughter wears the burqa…
30 December 20105Presseurop -
Populism
The fear peddlers hobbling Europe
3 November 20103Libération Paris -
20 October 20101PresseuropDie Tageszeitung
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Germany
Mutti Merkel handbags Multikulti
18 October 20101Presseurop -
Debates
The birth of extremist Europe
5 October 2010Newsweek New York -
Germany
A nation nice to Muslims
4 October 2010PresseuropBerliner Zeitung -
Populism
Far-right, la nouvelle vague
1 September 2010EUobserver.com Brussels -
31 August 20102Corriere della Sera Milan
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Pakistan
Why is Europe so slow to react?
13 August 20101PresseuropPresseurop -
Religion and State
Burqa, the cross we must bear
21 July 201014Der Standard Vienna -
15 June 2010PresseuropEl Periódico de Catalunya
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31 May 20101PresseuropNew Statesman
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28 April 2010PresseuropABC
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EUROPEAN OF THE WEEK
Necla Kelek, defending democracy
16 April 2010Der Spiegel Hamburg -
30 March 2010PresseuropLe Monde
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29 March 2010PresseuropGazeta Wyborcza
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16 March 2010PresseuropBerlingske Tidende
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Ireland/Sweden
Plot to kill Swedish cartoonist foiled
10 March 2010PresseuropDagens Nyheter -
Religion
Jewish and German, new generation
9 February 20102Die Zeit Hamburg -
8 February 2010PresseuropPolitiken
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Iraq War
Blair, blinded by the Enlightenment
1 February 20101The Independent London -
Islam
Beyond the burqa
27 January 20106Presseurop -
Netherlands
Lunatic fringe Islam to defend Wilders
21 January 2010PresseuropDe Volkskrant -
Denmark
Few burqas, much fuss
19 January 2010PresseuropJyllands-Posten -
France
Banning the burqa isn't easy
13 January 2010PresseuropLibération -
Debate
National identity is...
11 December 20091Presseurop -
Religion
Is Islam good for Europe?
2 December 20091El Mundo Madrid -
Switzerland
Populism storms the minarets
30 November 20094Presseurop -
European Union
Islam, top of a heap of prejudices
16 November 2009PresseuropDie Tageszeitung -
Germany
No country for Islamophobes
12 November 2009PresseuropDie Tageszeitung -
United Kingdom
BNP on Beeb endorses Churchill and KKK
23 October 2009PresseuropThe Daily Telegraph -
25 August 2009La Repubblica Rome
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Netherlands
More Tariq Ramadan controversy
14 August 2009PresseuropDe Volkskrant -
3 August 20091Presseurop
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Religion
The Islamisation myth
28 July 20092The Observer London -
7 July 2009PresseuropPolitiken
On 31 March, the Indian Ocean island of Mayotte became the 101st department of France. For most of the local population, which is 90% Muslim, there is no conflict of interest between their religion and the principle of secularity much cherished by the French state. Le Monde reports. 
In the wake of 9/11, the West demanded that Arab populations embrace democracy. In countries like Syria, they are now risking their lives to do just that, while Europeans stand back as though they were incapable of dealing with problems beyond their borders. The founder of the Community of Saint Egidio sets the record straight. 
Although Anders Breivik was solely responsible for the atrocities in Norway, his far-fetched ideas clearly owe much to a culture of populism. A Dutch historian argues that the events which took place on 22 July ought to be considered in the context of political trends in Europe.
Geert Wilders's acquittal on hate speech charges may open up a new trend in Europe. Now that governments have stopped defending multiculturalism, critics of Islam can come back out into the open, writes a Dutch intellectual pleased with the decision. 
The rise of populist parties on the Old Continent seems to echo the success of the Tea Party in the United States. But the two movements have different histories, writes the Boston correspondent for De Morgen. The result, though, is the same: governments threatened with paralysis. 
Wearing the burqa in public places is now forbidden in France. For the Independent, the new law is a piece of electioneering from an embattled Nicolas Sarkozy, and will worsen the condition of Muslims in Europe. 
The debate about secularism organised in France by the ruling right-wing UMP party has been decried by the Muslim community as a brutal attack on Islam, while the Left has seen it as a disguised attempt to curry favour with the supporters of the National Front. But no debate at all is a victory for extremism, argues a Polish editorialist. 
A few months after Angela Merkel controversially argued that the multicultural society in Germany had “utterly failed”, David Cameron’s 5 February speech echoing the Chancellor’s sentiments has revived the debate about national identity in the British press. 
The revolutionary spirit sweeping the Middle East has provoked as much fear as joy in the West. Der Standard questions why is it that we doubt that Arabs have the will or the ability to be the masters of their own destiny. 
Thilo Sarrazin's controversial book on the dumbing down of Germany has ignited the debate on immigration. Russian emigré writer Wladimir Kaminer now joins the fray to warn against the dangerous habit of dividing society up into the strong and weak, productive and non-productive. Like it or not, he says, we stand or fall together. 
Magazines tell us that women are the future of Europe, but exactly what kind of future do they mean? Czech novelist Petra Hůlová offers her tragicomic vision. 
The new far right not only exerts a growing influence on national governments, it is also organising at a European level and could soon weigh heavily on the very workings of the EU, warns French columnist Bernard Guetta. 
In the debate on the role of foreigners and Muslims in Germany, Angela Merkel has called into question the model of integration which has held sway for several decades — a new position, which the German press believes is indicative of a shift to the right in Berlin. 
Nationalists and immigrant-baiting parties are fast entering the European political mainstream, and even traditionally centrist parties are now trying to play their game, notes British Labour MP and former Minister for Europe Denis McShane. 
Anti-Muslim group the English Defence League, that includes Sikhs, Jews and gays in its ranks, is federating with other European movements that are part of a new wave far right. In October, they plan to march in Amsterdam, in defense of their hero, the immigrant baiting Geert Wilders.
When it comes to foreign policy, national interests will sometimes trump lofty moral principles. But the Libyan leader’s latest provocations and blackmail attempts beat all. 
The ban on the burqa in Belgium and France, now spreading to Spain, the UK, and even to universities in Egypt and Syria, points up the hypocrisy and double standards of Western Christian culture, writes German philosopher Andrea Roedig. If the burqa is an instrument of oppression, isn’t the cross we worship really a morbid fascination with torture? 
The Turkish-German writer Necla Kelek is a vehement defender of democracy. Her criticism of Islam has sparked controversy amongst many German intellectuals. Der Spiegel wonders whether she is unjustly vilified by her critics. 
The Jewish community in Germany, estimated at 200,000, faces its greatest postwar upheaval, what with the immigration waves from the former Soviet republics and a new generation for whom the Holocaust and Israel are faraway matters, writes Die Zeit 
At the Chilcot inquiry, Tony Blair expressed no regrets over his decision to join the war in Iraq. Bruce Anderson in the Independent argues that he was driven by a typical delusion of Enlightenment thinking, that it is possible to reshape human nature and the world in the West’s image. 
A French parliamentary commission recommends banning the burqa in certain public places. Though the issue is hotly contested in Denmark as well, the European press seems leery of actually outlawing the full Islamic veil. 
The national identity debate started up by the French government – in sync with the referendum to ban new minarets in Switzerland – has caused no end of controversy. After all, admonishes the press, European societies have a proven penchant for turning against immigrants. 
The Swiss referendum on minarets has re-ignited the debate about Islam in Europe. While Muslim philosopher Tariq Ramadan stresses Muslims’ cultural contributions to Europe, journalist Arcadi Espada argues that religion is not a desirable calling card in Europe. 
The ban on building new minarets on mosques approved by Swiss voters on 29 November is an “in-your-face” attack on Muslim residents. But it also points up a socio-political problem that concerns every country on the continent, opines the European press. 
With moves to ban kebab shops, burkinis, and public prayers, town councils throughout Italy are increasingly resorting to measures that are perceived as discriminatory by Muslims, who are now beginning to respond with court actions. 
On August 1st, former Danish PM Anders Fogh Rasmussen was formally invested as NATO’s new secretary general, declaring that resolving the war in Afghanistan would be his main priority. But what, wonders the European press, is the outlook for the western alliance, blighted by in-fighting and seemingly with no end in sight to its battle against a resurgent Taliban? 
In the wake of the London and Madrid bombings, predictions proliferated in print and on web that Islam was entering a radicial and violent phase. Dire warnings of the imminent “Islamisation” of Europe have turned out, however, to be of little substance, reports the Observer.