UK’s law to combat ‘poisonous Islamist ideology’ & Austria passes law on Islam, banning foreign funding and requiring imams to speak German
UK’s law to combat ‘poisonous Islamist ideology’
The new legislation will include introducing banning orders for extremist organizations who seek to undermine democracy or use hate speech in public places, new extremism disruption orders to restrict people who seek to radicalise young people and powers to close premises where extremists seek to influence others.
It also includes strengthening the powers of the Charity Commission to root out charities who misappropriate funds towards extremism and terrorism, further immigration restrictions on extremists and a strengthened role for Ofcom to take action against channels which broadcast extremist content.
Cameron said, “For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens: as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone. It’s often meant we have stood neutral between different values. And that’s helped foster a narrative of extremism and grievance. This government will conclusively turn the page on this failed approach.”
Home secretary Theresa May said the twisted narrative of extremism cannot be ignored or wished away.
“This government will challenge those who seek to spread hatred and intolerance by forming a new partnership of every single person and organization in this country who wants to defeat the extremists,” she added.
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Austria passes law on Islam, banning foreign funding and requiring imams to speak German
February 25, 2015 3:34 pm By Robert Spencer 30 Comments
“We want a future in which increasing numbers of imams have grown up in Austria speaking German, and can in that way serve as positive examples for young Muslims.” Are they unable to recruit for jihad in German? This measure is largely cosmetic, but at least it is something, rather than nothing at all, which is what most Western countries are doing.“Austria passes law on Islam, banning foreign funding,” by Philippe Schwab, Agence France Presse, February 25, 2015 (thanks to Lookmann):
Vienna: Austria’s parliament adopted legislation Wednesday amending laws on Muslim organisations to ban foreign sources of financing and require imams to be able to speak German.
The new law aims to promote what conservative Integration Minister Sebastian Kurz calls an “Islam of European character” by muting the influence of foreign Muslim nations and organisations, and offering Austrian Muslims a mix of increased rights and obligations in practising their faith in the central European country.
Austria’s previous “law on Islam” dates from 1912, after the annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina by the Austro-Hungarian empire.
The two-year-old bill passed by parliament Wednesday predates the recent jihadist violence in France and Denmark, but is designed to “clearly combat” the growing influence of radical Islam, Kurz said….
Passage of the law comes amid estimates indicating around 200 people from Austria — including women and minors — have gone to Syria and Iraq to join jihadist militias like Islamic Front.A poll published by the OGM institute Tuesday found 58 percent of Austrians feeling radicalisation of the nation’s Muslims was underway.
To combat the rising risk of radical indoctrination of foreign origin, the legislation bans Islamic cultural organisations and imams in Austria from receiving funding from abroad.
It also requires the nearly 450 Muslim organisations in the country to demonstrate a “positive approach towards society and the state” in order to continue receiving official licensing.
Imams will be obliged to be able to speak German under the law — a bid to make their comments more accessible and transparent, while also facilitating the fuller integration of Islam into wider Austrian society.
“We want a future in which increasing numbers of imams have grown up in Austria speaking German, and can in that way serve as positive examples for young Muslims,” Kurz explained ahead of the vote.
The legislation also accords Muslims the right to consult Islamic clerics on the staffs of hospitals, retirement homes, prisons and in the armed forces.
Muslims in Austria will also have the right to halal meals in those institutions as well as in public schools, and will be allowed to skip work on Islamic holidays.
The adopted text scaled back farther-reaching measures contained in an earlier version, including the imposition of an “official” Koran in German that had sparked considerable controversy.
Yet the legislation has still generated opposition.
Before its adoption Turkey’s leading Muslim cleric, Mehmet Gormez, decried the bill as “a 100-year regression,” arguing no complaints have ever been lodged about the fact that Turkey funds many imams in Austria.
The country’s main Islamic group, the Islamic Religious Authority of Austria, approved the bill despite other organisations denouncing its restrictions as “discrimination” that other religions aren’t saddled with….
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