Salam Plan ~ Journalism against hate

John Bell, former mediator in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: “There is a kind of hijack of religion”

The experienced Canadian mediator and diplomat of Lebanese origin, John Bell, takes an in-depth look at the present situation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict after the ceasefire.

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Muslims bring church back to life in Iraq after being destroyed by ISIS: “We want Christians to feel welcome”

“We want to tell Christians that this is still their city, that they are welcome here”, Ziad says from Mosul (Iraq). He leads a group of volunteers who worked to restore the city’s oldest church. ISIS’ terrorists had destroyed it while they ruled over Mosul, the same way they destroyed its most significant mosque.

Facts & figures

Trump in the UN: “Protecting religious freedom is one of my highest priorities”

US president Donald Trump has called upon all nations to “join” the United States in the “urgent moral duty” of protecting the religious freedom. He said so in a conference he led on this matter at the United Nations summit where secretary general Antonio Guterres accompanied him.

Terrorism

20 people killed in a terror attack by a white supremacist in El Paso

Twenty people have died and another 26 were injured this Saturday when a man opened fire at a shopping center in El Paso (Texas). The alleged perpetrator is under police custody while the FBI is treating the attack as a case of “domestic terrorism”. The author could face a death penalty.

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Ursula von der Leyen and her view on Muslims in Europe

The candidate for president of the European Commission and current Minister of Defence of Germany, Ursula von der Leyen, presents her nomination to the position of European leader this Tuesday. Muslims make up approximately 5% of the population she wants to represent. A defender of “diversity” in society, this Christian Democrat has promoted the next incorporation of rabbis and imams to the German Army, but she did not always have an inclusive policy.

Islamophobia

European Commission against Islamophobia: “This fight is not for one group: it is about the society that we want, based on non-discrimination”

Tommaso Chiamparino is the European Commission’s coordinator on combating anti-Muslim hatred, a role he considers goes hand in hand with fighting for the rights of everyone, for an open, diverse society.

Islamophobia

New head of EU diplomacy Josep Borrell against Islamophobia: “Islam did not arrive in a rubber boat: it is part of the European culture”

The acting Spanish Foreign Minister, Josep Borrell, will become the high representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy next Novembre. In his new job as head of European diplomacy, Borrell will also deal with issues including the common European defense and migration from outside the EU.

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Zainab Khan, mentor of Muslim Americans: “Muslims are not x, y and z. We are not a monolith”

Zainab Khan defines herself as “a human being” who happens to be a mother, a wife, a sister, a daughter, a mentor, a Muslim… Someone for whom her heritage is “very important, because that’s the story I’m able to preserve”. Her father was from Afghanistan, her mother was Indo-Pakistani and she was born and raised in the US, so she feels like a “third spacer”.

Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Like U

Three religions under the same roof: this is Berlin’s next revolution

Kristin Bohner is Christian and admits certain envy every time she sees Muslims prostrate themselves on a rug to pray, without using a bank. Cagatay Caliskan is Muslim and admires the wealth of traditions Jews have. Esther Hirsch is Jewish and recognizes that she did not know all the things that Jews and Muslims had in common. All three of them live in Berlin. They are part of a team that is working to build the first great sacred place that will host three religions and all the others which want to take part, welcoming atheists or agnostics as well. The doors of ‘House of One‘ will be wide open to everyone.

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“There are large voices of men in the Arab region supporting the feminist movement, but not so many are truly on the ground”

Samah Marmash is the executive director of the Arab Women’s Legal Network, with 665 members in 18 Arab countries. Their aim is to facilitate the legal work to fight together for women’s rights in their lands. Judges and institutions count on lawyers of this network to teach courses on this topic. But there is still much to do.