Italy: Moroccans in quake area return home

Italy: Moroccans in quake area return home

Via AKI:

At least 100 Moroccans are returning home after the area in northern Italy where they were residing was struck by an earthquake five days ago.

The immigrants were forced to abandon their homes in the town of Finale Emilia in Italy's Emilia-Romagna region where a 5.9-magnitude quake early Sunday morning killed seven people and left around 5,000 homeless. A Moroccan working a night shift in a factory was among the dead.

(source)

READ MORE - Italy: Moroccans in quake area return home

Italy: First Muslim televangelist show

Italy: First Muslim televangelist show

Via AKI:

Italy's first Muslim televangelist show debuted several weeks ago.  The show, named 'Min al-Dakhil Rumia' (from the Land of the Romans), is broadcast on RTB Brescia and via satellite, and targets European Muslims.  The show is hosted by Imam Abu Ammar al-Sudani, an Italian Muslim preacher and activist.

The imam wants to offer true Islamic television.  Abu Ammar says they started the show in order to talk about the role of Islam in the West and in Italy, from a a social, cultural and religious point of view.  The show also features reports on Italian Muslims from all over the country.

The show is currently funded by Gulf countries.  Abu Ammar says the upcoming episodes will also be sponsored by Italian companies.  The imam says that the first two episodes were received well, and that he got congratulatory phone calls from Morocco, Egypt and France.  

READ MORE - Italy: First Muslim televangelist show

Italy: Urban warfare as Tunisian, Albanian gangs clash

Italy: Urban warfare as Tunisian, Albanian gangs clash

Via AKI:

Police have arrested two Tunisians after urban warfare broke out late Tuesday in the central city of Perugia between gangs of immigrants when a North African was stabbed.

The two Tunisians face charges of resisting arrest and of causing damage when gangs of immigrants ran amok, smashing store windows and overturning rubbish bins in one of Perugia's main shopping streets.

Witnesses reported hearing several shots being fired around midnight, shortly before the North African was stabbed in the stomach and the head. 

(source)

READ MORE - Italy: Urban warfare as Tunisian, Albanian gangs clash

Italy: 70, 000 converted to Islam

Italy: 70, 000 converted to Islam

Via AGI:

According to Ucoi (the Union of Islamic communities in Italy) about 70,000 Italians converted to Islam, a real boom of conversions heightened by the crisis of values but also by the economic crisis in Italy, as Elzir Izzedine commented during the Youtube programme KlausCondicio, by the anchorman Klaus Davi, who is carrying out a report on the Italians espousing Islam.

(source)

READ MORE - Italy: 70, 000 converted to Islam

Italy: Immigrants say they are treated 'worse than animals'

Italy: Immigrants say they are treated 'worse than animals'

Via ANSA:

Immigrants held at a reception center in the southern Italian town of Bari said on Thursday that they were treated "worse than animals" by authorities at the structure.

The center for identification and expulsion, with a capacity of 119 people, is currently occupied by 196 foreigners awaiting deportation, the immigrants said.

(source)

READ MORE - Italy: Immigrants say they are treated 'worse than animals'

Italy: President, Interior Minister visit Rome's Mosque

Italy: President, Interior Minister visit Rome's Mosque

(photo)

Via ANSAmed:

President Napolitano arrives with Interior Minister Anna Maria Cancellieri and the Minister for Integration, Andrea Riccardi. And it is Riccardi's speech that puts the seal on a new pact of ''integration'' and living together. (...) Riccardi remarks how ''the mosque's dome fits in well with all the other church domes in Rome,'' making the capital city ''a model for integration between religions and cultures''.

''Integration arises from differences. Many predicted after the September 11 attacks that there would be a clash between the West and Islam. Ten years later, the Arab Spring has drawn a different scenario: reasons for living together and getting on have multiplied''. President Napolitano appreciated this reference to the Arab Spring.

(...)

Mohammad al Gramdi, the Saudi Arabian Ambassador and Chair of the Islamic Cultural Centre noted ''the tolerance and friendliness of Italian society''. ''The Islamic community is among the most genuine components of Italian society''. ''We hope to receive the support of the tax advantages that are offered to other faiths and cultures''.

The Imam of the mosque, Al'a al-Din Muhammad Isma'Il al Ghobashi, spoke of ''postive integration, which does not mean erasing one's roots''.

(source)

READ MORE - Italy: President, Interior Minister visit Rome's Mosque

Morocco: Italian fashion company upsets Muslims with madrassa pictures

Morocco: Italian fashion company upsets Muslims with madrassa pictures

Italian fashion designer Fornarina got Muslims upset by their latest advertising shoot in Marrakesh.  Fornarina used an abandoned madrassa to advertise their new collection, with their scantily-clad model posing in front of various Koran quotes on the walls.  Saudi broadcaster Al Arabiya devoted considerable time to the incident, interviewing Moroccans at home and in Italy, who condemned the company.  Fornarina, who say they got all the necessary permits for the shoot from the Moroccan government, say they will remove the offending images. 

READ MORE - Morocco: Italian fashion company upsets Muslims with madrassa pictures

Italy: Deportees on Alitalia flight with taped mouths

Italy: Deportees on Alitalia flight with taped mouths

A photo of two Tunisian men being deported from Italy on an Alitalia flight, their mouths sealed with duct tape and their hands cuffed with plastic bands, was posted by Italian film director Francesco Sperandeo on Facebook Wednesday. (ANSA)

READ MORE - Italy: Deportees on Alitalia flight with taped mouths

Italy: Supreme court rejects ethnic-religious argument for child abuse

Italy: Supreme court rejects ethnic-religious argument for child abuse

Via ANSA:

The Italian Supreme Court on Friday upheld a sentence for abuse and aggravated assault by a Moroccan father against his 12-year-old daughter.

Defense lawyers maintained that the father, who allegedly beat his daughter with a broom handle for "corrective" purposes after she could not properly recite the Koran, did so because of "cultural" reasons and should be given a lighter sentence accordingly.

(source)

READ MORE - Italy: Supreme court rejects ethnic-religious argument for child abuse

Jihad News

Jihad News

I usually post these in the 'in other news' feed, but there were so many items of interest over the past few days I thought they deserved their own post.

Update: Abdelkader Merah is the brother of terrorist Mohamed Merah (Thanks M.)



France
* Abdelkader Merah, father of terrorist Mohamed Merah was investigated by the Belgian police in 2007-2008 for recruiting Jihadists, as part of a larger investigation into a Belgian Jihadist cell. However, there was insufficient evidence to press charges.

* Investigators believe an accomplice sent Merah's terror music clip to al-Jazeera. Al-Jazeera decided not to air the clip. Police are also looking for a possible accomplice in helping Merah with his scooter.

* Russia Today speculates that Merah might have been an informant of French intelligence. [Grain of salt: RT love conspiracy theories]

* A Franco-Algerian nuclear scientist is on trial for allegedly plotting terror attacks in France


Norway

In a video clip posted online, Mulla Krekar threatens Norway with suicide attacks and kidnappings. Once Norway will become an Islamic state, Muslims will be able to avenge the wrongs done to him, he says, just like the Jews did.

The Norwegian Security Service PST reports it is following about a hundred extreme Muslims in Norway.


Germany

* A 20 year old was jailed for distributing Internet 'Islamist propaganda'.

* Germany is currently monitoring 130 individuals seen as 'Islamist threats' capable of turning violent at any time


Spain

Al-Qaeda's 'librarian' was arrested in Valencia this week. He was a key player in the organization's propaganda and recruitment efforts.


Italy

The European Court of Human Rights ordered Italy to pay compensation to Mohamed Mannai. Mannai had been deported to Tunisia in 2010 after serving jail time for terror charges. Maani was linked to Ansar al-Islam, Krekar's terror group.

READ MORE - Jihad News

Italy: PKK 'extortion cell' busted, forced revolutionary tax' payments

Italy: PKK 'extortion cell' busted, forced revolutionary tax' payments

Via AKI:

A group of Kurds belonging to the banned Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) was arrested in Venice on Tuesday on suspicion of extorting money to use for armed operations in their native Turkey.

The suspects are accused by Italian investigators of using violence to force Kurdish immigrants living in northern Italy to pay a ''revolutionary tax'' to fund the PKK's fight against Turkey.

(source)

READ MORE - Italy: PKK 'extortion cell' busted, forced revolutionary tax' payments

Italy: Italian Islamic Confederation born. 250 mosques united

Italy: Italian Islamic Confederation born. 250 mosques united

Via ANSAmed:

A step forward has been taken to unify the Italian Islamic community. It's also a move towards picking up once again the dialogue with the State and work towards signing an agreement document. After a long planning period, the first Italian Islamic Confederation is born, unifying 250 mosques all over the nation and who have chosen to share common values. The Italian Islamic Culture Centre and great mosque of Rome have wanted and worked on this project since 2009 - as also its Secretary General, Abdellah Redouane.

(source)

READ MORE - Italy: Italian Islamic Confederation born. 250 mosques united

Milan: Man arrested, suspected of planning synagogue attack

Milan: Man arrested, suspected of planning synagogue attack

Via ANSA:

Police arrested a suspected terrorist in the northern city of Brescia early on Thursday who they believe may have been planning an attack on Milan's synagogue.

The 20-year-old, a Moroccan citizen who has lived in Italy since he was six, is also suspected of setting up secret Facebook pages providing training on making bombs and using weapons for budding terrorists.

(source)

READ MORE - Milan: Man arrested, suspected of planning synagogue attack

Italy: Racism on the rise, says a report to parliament

Italy: Racism on the rise, says a report to parliament

Via ANSA:

Racism is on the rise in Italy, especially in the media and on the Internet, said a report by the National Office against Racial Discrimination (UNAR) presented to Parliament on Thursday.

One out of four victims of racially-motivated discrimination in Italy comes from Eastern European countries and the Balkans, the report said. North Africans are the targets of 16.6% of discriminatory acts and Latin Americans 13.8%, it said.

(source)

READ MORE - Italy: Racism on the rise, says a report to parliament

Italy: Council of Imams names first woman to board

Italy: Council of Imams names first woman to board

Via ANSA:

Italy's Council of Imams and Islamic Leaders named its first woman to serve on the board of directors Wednesday.

The daughter of an imam, 35-year-old Nibras Breigheche is also in charge of the association's intercultural and interrelgious dialogue programs.

(source)

READ MORE - Italy: Council of Imams names first woman to board

Italy: Higher Judicial Council OKs right to wear veil in court

Italy: Higher Judicial Council OKs right to wear veil in court

Via AGI:

The Higher Judicial Council (CSM) has ruled that the veil may be worn on religious grounds in Italian courts. In their plenary session this morning, the majority approved a resolution establishing that "full respect must be assured to to those behaviours which, without causing disturbance to the regular and correct court proceedings, constitute a legitimate exercise of the right to profess one's own religion, including those precepts that relate to clothing and other outward signs."

(source)

READ MORE - Italy: Higher Judicial Council OKs right to wear veil in court

Italy: Anti-terrorism police arrest Turkish Hezbollah suspects



Via ANSA:

Italian anti-terrorism police on Tuesday arrested several members of a cell they believe belongs to the militant Sunni Islamic group Turkish Hezbollah.

The people arrested in the central city of Terni are suspected of being involved in smuggling Kurdish and Palestinian migrants into Italy with false documents.

(source)

READ MORE -

Italy: Four convicted in mosque-building scam

Italy: Four convicted in mosque-building scam

Via ANSA:

Four people including a judge were convicted Thursday of defrauding investors, including the Iraqi government and top Italian bank Unicredit, in a mosque that was announced but never built in the Tuscan city of Massa Carrara.

(source)

READ MORE - Italy: Four convicted in mosque-building scam

Milan: City to recognize a dozen 'mini-mosques'

Milan: City to recognize a dozen 'mini-mosques'

After mapping the city's Muslim community needs, the city of Milan has decided not to approve a grand mosque. Instead, the city will approve and recognize about a dozen existing small 'garage' mosques as neighborhood mosques.

READ MORE - Milan: City to recognize a dozen 'mini-mosques'