Latest news with #secularism
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Montreal basilica did not chime bells to discourage praying Muslims
The premier of Quebec previously floated the idea of introducing a total ban on praying in public streets and parks -- including during protests -- as the government looks to strengthen secularism in the Canadian province. But claims that loud bells were intentionally rung to drown out a crowd participating in Muslim prayer in front of the Notre-Dame Basilica in Montreal are false; the church's carillon chimes every hour and was not struck to dissuade the expression of faith. "In an attempt to intimidate Catholics, Muslims held a 'prayer service' in front of the Cathedral in Montreal. This was the Cathedral's response...," claims the caption of a July 24, 2025 Instagram video. In the clip, participants accompanied by a Palestinian flag kneel and rise in a public square as loud church bells silence most of the other noise in the footage. Different versions of the claim that the video shows the iconic Montreal basilica deliberately drowning out the Muslim prayer also spread on Facebook, X and TikTok. The proportion of Muslims in the Canadian population more than doubled from 2001-2021 (archived here), creating tensions over how to accommodate requests to pray during the school or work day. In December 2024, Quebec Premier François Legault said he wants to ban praying in public, commenting that he wanted to send a "message to Islamists." The Canadian Muslim Forum said the threatened ban "unfairly targets Quebecers, especially those of Muslim faith, based solely on their backgrounds" (archived here). Some rabbis criticized the proposal, while Catholic bishops in the province panned the move to restrict public expression of faith in a letter saying "praying is not dangerous" (archived here and here). The posts claiming the Notre-Dame Basilica in Montreal deliberately rang its bells to put a stop to the Muslim prayer in front of its establishment are inaccurate. A basilica spokesman told AFP the demonstration did not trigger the striking of the bells, which he said automatically chime every hour on the hour. "The basilica is not involved in these gatherings, which are a legitimate exercise of freedom of expression in an emblematic public space of Montreal," the spokesman said in a July 29 email. The Canadian Press reported one of the earliest versions of the clip uploaded to social media claimed the footage was taken on June 8 at around 6 pm (2200 GMT). Six o'clock is the final hour the bells are struck each day, ending the schedule with a more complex flurry of rings, according to the basilica's website (archived here). Rather than a consistent chiming, the bells heard in the video circulating on social media are more frenetic. The Canadian Press fact-check also noted a protest advertised by the advocacy group Montreal4Palestine took place on June 8 within walking distance of the church (archived here and here). AFP reached out to the organization for a comment but did not receive a response. AFP previously fact-checked claims misrepresenting Muslim beliefs and engagement with pro-Palestinian advocacy in Canada. July 30, 2025 This story was refiled for a technical reason.
The National
01-07-2025
- Politics
- The National
Le Pen granddaughter to face trial over accusing school operator of Muslim Brotherhood affiliation
French far-right MEP Marion Marechal is set to face trial in September over claims she falsely accused an association that runs a private Muslim school of links to the Muslim Brotherhood. While the Muslim Brotherhood is not outlawed in France, authorities view the movement as promoting values, particularly through educational institutions, that conflict with France's strict secularism, or laicite - a foundation principle of the republic. In 2023, Ms Marechal publicly alleged that the school operator, Values and Success, was affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, describing the group as sharing goals with Al Qaeda and ISIS, according to a legal document reviewed by AFP. Ms Marechal, grand-daughter of French far-right political figure Jean-Marie Le Pen, who died in January, is a prominent voice in the nation's politics. She is the niece of three-time presidential candidate Marine Le Pen. The association at the centre of the controversy runs a small private school in the south-eastern city of Valence, teaching about 40 pupils. As a non-contract institution, the school is not bound by the national curriculum and can set its own education programme. Values and Success filed a defamation lawsuit against Ms Marechal early last year. The group has been under scrutiny since 2022, when it attempted to buy land from the local municipality. French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo published an article linking the association to the Muslim Brotherhood, a claim that triggered public outcry. The land sale, initially approved by the city council, was ultimately blocked after intervention by the local prefecture, which has administrative authority at departmental level. Following the article, Values and Success sued Charlie Hebdo for defamation but the magazine was acquitted on appeal. The court ruled that "the accusation of proximity between the school and the Muslim Brotherhood ... is a matter of free debate" and an "infinitely subjective value judgment", according to AFP. The court also noted the Muslim Brotherhood movement is not banned in France. In a Facebook page dated June 21, Values and Success complained of "facing unprecedented persecution". It said "the reasons given are arbitrary and profoundly unfair" but did not mention the Muslim Brotherhood.
CTV News
05-06-2025
- Lifestyle
- CTV News
Secularism in schools: Drainville tables amendments to strengthen his bill
Education Minister Bernard Drainville during question period on May 6, 2025. (The Canadian Press/Jacques Boissino) A home-schooled child will lose their services if they or their parent refuses to uncover their face in the presence of a representative of the school or school service centre (CSS). On Thursday, Education Minister Bernard Drainville tabled several amendments to strengthen his Bill 94 on secularism in schools. This piece of legislation extends the obligation to have one's face uncovered at all times to all public and private schools, whether subsidized or not, for both students and staff. It also imposes this obligation on children who are home-schooled and their parents when receiving any service from the SSC. On Thursday, Drainville indicated that he was adding a penalty: refusal by a student or parent to comply will result in the loss of services. For example, a child who requires the services of a remedial teacher would be deprived of them as long as they or their parent refuses to uncover their face completely, explained Drainville's office. As the detailed study of Bill 94 began on Thursday, Québec Solidaire MNA Sol Zanetti accused the CAQ government of 'dividing society.' 'This is a bill that promotes social exclusion,' he said. This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French June 5, 2025.
Fox News
05-06-2025
- General
- Fox News
French report identifies Muslim Brotherhood threat as Ted Cruz seeks US terror designation for group
French President Emmanuel Macron has asked his ministers to come up with responsive measures after a "government-commissioned" report determined that the Muslim Brotherhood poses a danger to "the fabric of society and republican institutions" in France. Though the French government stated it would not publish its full report, Reuters said it "accuses the Muslim Brotherhood of waging a covert campaign via local proxies to subvert France's secular values and institutions." That campaign is said to focus on local government, schools and mosques as a means to influence change on local and national levels, particularly regarding issues of gender equality and secularism. The report's claim that "the reality of this threat, even if it is long-term and does not involve violent action, highlights the risk of damage to the fabric of society and republican institutions." Christopher Holton, senior analyst and director for state outreach at the Center for Security Policy, told Fox News Digital that the French internal security service report "came as a surprise," given that European intelligence agencies "have been in denial about the Islamization of Europe" for "a quarter-century or so." "The Muslim Brotherhood is one of the most influential organizations in the entire Islamic world," Holton said. "This report acknowledges that, and that's something that no official government report in the West that I'm aware of has really acknowledged. "They don't conceal their philosophy. They don't conceal their plans. They're pretty transparent," Holton said of the Muslim Brotherhood, pointing to the final portion of the group's motto, which he said is "Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope." There is less transparency, however, about various groups' affiliations with the Muslim Brotherhood. However, the French intelligence report claims that the Muslims of France are the "national branch" of the Muslim Brotherhood. Politico reported the group called the accusations "unfounded." Alan Mendoza, executive director of the Henry Jackson Society, told Fox News Digital that "the Muslim Brotherhood's model is pretty similar across Europe." Because of its "mixture of open association and clandestine connections," Mendoza says, "it is difficult to know the exact degree of Muslim Brotherhood penetration." Mendoza says the Muslim Brotherhood today "is therefore a particular menace for European Muslim communities as it seeks to radicalize religious thought, and for European countries because it is interested in a separate identity for European Muslims within states." Mendoza said this is "part of the reason we are seeing increased sectarianization within European societies." The Muslim Brotherhood's presence in the U.S. is coming under increased scrutiny once again. Earlier this week Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas., announced on X, "In the coming days, I will be circulating and re-introducing a modernized version of the Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act, which I have been pushing for my entire Senate career." Cruz said that "the Muslim Brotherhood used the Biden administration to consolidate and deepen their influence, but the Trump administration and Republican Congress can no longer afford to avoid the threat they pose to Americans and American national security." In April, Jordan outlawed the group and in so doing joined several other countries where it was banned or restricted. Those countries, according to an Al Arabiya report, include Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Russia and Saudi Arabia.
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
A headscarf ban is keeping basketball players off the court. A new bill could make it law in France
PARIS (AP) — Salimata Sylla was about to lead her team onto the basketball court, as she had done many times before. On that Sunday morning, she and her teammates had completed a three-hour bus trip from the Paris suburb of Aubervilliers to a rival club in northern France. They had changed and warmed up, and Sylla, the team captain, was ready to go. But moments before tipoff, she was told she could not play. The reason? Her headscarf. More than two years later, Sylla is still barred from competing under the French basketball federation's jurisdiction. The 27-year-old former point guard is among thousands of young Muslim women in France who are sidelined from competitive sport because of bans on uniforms and other clothing that have religious or political significance. These rules, critics say, disproportionately target hijab-wearing Muslim athletes. Now, a contentious bill backed by right-wing politicians that would ban headscarves in all sporting competitions has cleared its first legislative hurdle in the Senate. If passed by the lower house, it would enshrine into law what has until now been decided by individual sporting federations. Supporters say the proposed law is a necessary step to protect secularism — a pillar of the French Republic. Opponents denounce it as discriminatory, Islamophobic, and a violation of both the rule of law and the very concept of secularism. Athlete who wears hijab says it's a personal decision 'We know that sport is a vehicle for emancipation, especially for girls,' Sylla told The Associated Press. 'So what are they really trying to tell us? They think we're oppressed because we wear our headscarf? But in the end, they're also oppressing us because they've excluded us from basketball courts. We chose to be Muslims. Under no circumstances should you tell me what we should or shouldn't wear.' In January 2023, she was told to remove her headscarf if she wanted to play against rival club Escaudain in the National 3 league. Sylla refused, citing personal conviction and the fact that her sports hijab was officially approved and deemed suitable for competitive use. Only then did she learn that the basketball federation's rules banned all head coverings as inappropriate for play, contrary to the rules of the international basketball federation. 'I was really shocked,' Sylla said. 'I went to see the referee to tell him that I'd played eight games with it since the start of the season and that no one had banned me from playing with it. And he said: 'I'm sorry, here are the rules.'' The French federation did not provide The Associated Press with an explanation for the ban on hijabs in competitions. Sylla, who this year made a pilgrimage to the Muslim holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, has stopped playing with her former club. She continues hosting games outside of the federation's jurisdiction, organizing monthly tournaments in Paris and its suburbs that are open to women playing basketball with or without a hijab. 'You don't want to include us? So we're going to include everyone,' Sylla said. Secularism still a hot-button issue Until now, sports federations have been free to decide whether to allow headscarves. One of the country's predominant sports, soccer, opted to ban them. A date has yet to be set for the bill to be debated in the lower house of the Parliament. To pass, it would need a coalition of forces that don't usually work together in the deeply divided National Assembly. But the senators' vote in favor of the bill has already reignited the ongoing debate on secularism and the separation of church and state. It's still a hot-button issue more than a century after a 1905 law established it as a principle of the French Republic. French secularism — 'la laïcité' — affirms the concept of religious freedom, while stipulating that the state does not favor any religion and remains neutral. At its most basic level, it holds that everyone in France is free to believe — or to not believe — and free to worship as they want but not to foist their religious beliefs on others in public spaces. Conceived to protect everyone's religious freedom after centuries of bloody religious wars, the laïcité is now seen by critics as a pretext to discriminate and restrict Muslims' access to public life. 'Les Hijabeuses' at the forefront A group of headscarf-wearing soccer players called 'Les Hijabeuses,' who campaign against the ban, say the new bill would unfairly force Muslim women to choose between wearing a headscarf or playing a sport. 'We reject this injustice,' they said. 'Because this law has no place in France. And it never will. We will continue to fight until this choice is no longer imposed.' After France's highest administrative court ruled in 2023 that the soccer federation can ban headscarves in matches, the Hijabeuses have lodged a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights against France, alleging a violation of their freedom of religion. Supporters of the bill cite growing attacks on secularism in sport, arguing that its core values are based on a principle of universality. To protect sports grounds from any nonsporting confrontation, they say, a principle of neutrality needs to be implemented to ensure that no political, religious or racial agenda can be promoted. 'For several years now, governing bodies and local elected officials have been warning of the rampant spread of the ideas of the architects of radicalization and proselytism in sport,' said Michel Savin, the senator who promoted the bill. 'Whenever they can, they try to test the limits of our republican principles.' Nicolas Cadène, the former secretary-general of the now defunct Observatory for Laïcité, a nonpartisan institution that previously advised the French government, says the principles of French secularism cannot be used to justify the headscarf ban. 'The state, because it is secular, has no business judging a religious symbol,' he said. 'That is not its concern. The state does not deal with religious symbols — it only prohibits them for those who represent the public administration. This law aims to exclude all these young women.' A heated debate sparking divisions The bill is dividing the government and pitting athletes against each other. Five-time Olympic judo champion Teddy Riner — a towering figure in French sports — has joined the fray, arguing that the bill was targeting one religion, and that French society should instead focus on promoting equality. Mahyar Monshipour, a former professional boxer born in Iran, hit back, asking Riner not to get involved in a debate he did not understand. 'The headscarf — which is not, as they would have you believe, a piece of cloth covering the hair but rather a 'shroud' meant to conceal the bodies of women from the onset of menstruation — is in itself a visible sign of an institutionalized and legitimized inequality between men and women,' Monshipour argued. The dispute has exposed cracks within the coalition government. While some ministers have expressed doubts about the bill, it has the strong backing of hard-right heavyweights such as Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau. The hijab 'radically questions the equality of men and women, and is a sign of the degradation of the status of women,' he said. 'Obviously not all women who wear the veil are Islamists. But you won't find a single Islamist who doesn't want women to wear the veil.' Lawmakers have previously approved a bill to strengthen oversight of mosques, schools and sports clubs. With France bloodied by terror attacks, there is widespread sentiment that Islamic radicalization was a danger. But critics also viewed that 2021 law as a political ploy to lure the right wing to President Emmanuel Macron's centrist party ahead of the presidential election that Macron won. With the next presidential election two years away, the debate over radical Islam has resurfaced, returning to the spotlight following the recent release of a government-commissioned report that raised concerns about the Muslim Brotherhood's efforts to expand its influence in France through grassroots organizations, including sports clubs. France stands alone with religious headwear ban Amnesty International said the new bill targets Muslim women and girls by excluding them from sporting competitions if they wear a headscarf or other religious clothing. Ahead of the 2024 Olympic Games, Amnesty published research looking at rules in 38 European countries and found that France was the only country to ban religious headwear in sport. 'If the law passes, France will be the only democracy in the world to ban all religious head coverings or accessories in sports,' Cadène said. ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. ___ AP Sports:
