Media
Broadcast
23 March 2016
Markus Lanz
EFD Programme Director Ahmad Mansour is a guest on German TV show Markus Lanz. Together with fellow guests Dr. Edmund Stoiber (CSU), the former Minister-President of the state of Bavaria and journalists Florian Eder, Ulrich Tilgner and Nicolas Hénin, the panel discussed the 22nd March terrorist attacks in Brussels....
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Article
23 March 2016
The triggering factors of jihadist radicalisation in Belgium
EFD Senior Fellow Valentina Colombo comments on the terrorist attacks that occurred in Brussels on 22nd March, analysing the political and social factors that lay behind them....
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Mention
22 March 2016
Belgium faces renewed questions on backing for security services
The Financial Times reports on yesterday's terror attacks in Brussels that killed over 30 people, while mentioning the European Foundation for Democracy and EFD Senior Policy Advisor Alexander Ritzmann. The article questions whether politicians and security services could have done more to prevent this attack and potential terror attacks in the future....
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Mention
22 March 2016
Brussels terror attacks: Jihadist hotbed in lock down as security forces launch massive operation
The Mirror reports on a new wave of raids being launched by police in Molenbeek and throughout Brussels, following the attacks that took place at Zaventem airport and Maelbeek metro station on 22 March, killing dozens. EFD Senior Policy Advisor Alexander Ritzmann is mentioned in the article for questioning how the network responsible for the attacks was not apprehended and prevented from doing so....
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Interview
22 March 2016
How the Brussels attacks affect the global fight against terror
Lorenzo Vidino, EFD Senior Policy Advisor and Director of the Program on Extremism at the Center for Cyber and Homeland Security at George Washington University, is interviewed by PBS on the Brussels terror attacks....
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Mention
22 March 2016
Security failures surface as Europe suffers another terror attack
EFD Executive Director Roberta Bonazzi is mentioned in Canadian news outlet The Toronto Star after conducting an interview with her, in response to the terror attacks on 22 March in Brussels that killed more than 32 people. "There was panic and a lot of confusion," she said in the interview. "Not even six months after Paris we had another major attack in Europe."...
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Mention
17 March 2016
Radically integrated
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports on an event hosted by member of the House of Representatives of Berlin, Burkard Dregger (CDU), who invited EFD Programme Director Ahmad Mansour to speak about integration. The article goes on to elaborate on Mansour’s background, his career and current efforts to establish an inner-Islamic debate on some of the contents of Islamic belief....
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Mention
15 March 2016
Al Qaeda’s Branch in Africa Makes a Lethal Comeback
An article in The New York Times, in which EFD Senior Fellow Bakary Sambe is mentioned, discuss the resurging Al Qaida branch in West Africa that has strengthened its reach and carried out deadly attacks in recent years, mostly on hotels where Westerners frequent....
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Interview
11 March 2016
Is true religion always extremist?
EFD Fellow Tehmina Kazi is mentioned in the online political magazine Prospect, where she speaks out for reformers such as herself and organizations such as the Inclusive Mosque initiative, which is a pro-feminist, pro-LGBT Muslim group formed in London....
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Mention
09 March 2016
Art will heal the wounds of war
During a conference entitled “Beyond Emergency Aid: Long-term Integration Strategies for Syrian Refugees” at the European Parliament, reported by the well-known Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet, the Maya Foundation presented “Project Lift” – an NGO based in Turkey that has been helping traumatised Syrian children through art, dance and music....
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Mention
09 March 2016
How a Turkish high school student changed the lives of Syrian children
EFD Executive Director Roberta Bonazzi moderated the event “Beyond Emergency Aid: Long-term Integration Strategies for Syrian Refugees” hosted by Ernest Maragall MEP at the European Parliament, stressing how important it is to support refugee children in order to provide them with a safe environment, immune to any kind of radicalisation....
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Mention
08 March 2016
Turkey is trying to take advantage of the refugee crises for personal gains
In light of the ongoing debates between the EU leaders and Turkey directed towards trying to solve the ongoing migrant crises, EFD Senior Policy Advisor Murat Seyrek is skeptical about the implementation of two points of the proposed deal....
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Mention
08 March 2016
Turkey sees itself as being in a position to force the EU’s hand
Deutsche Welle writes about the EU-Turkey summit on 7 January 2016. “I think the summit can be considered an unexpected diplomatic success for Turkey. The provision of sending one Syrian refugee to Europe for every refugee Turkey accepts from Greece was a new and unexpected proposition, which caused complications on the European side,” said EFD Senior Policy Advisor Dr Murat Seyrek....
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Mention
07 March 2016
AZ-panel discussion: Does Islam belong to Germany?
Abendzeitung München reports on a panel discussion in which EFD Programme Director Ahmad Mansour discussed various aspects of Islamic belief with regards to German society. The other guests were author Necla Kelek, imam Benjamin Idriz and talk show host Michel Friedman....
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Article
06 March 2016
Hezbollah: A “terrorist organization”? Not all Arabs agree
Following the decision of the Council for the Arab States of the Gulf to label Hezbollah (a Shiite Islamist military and political Lebanese group) as a terrorist organization, EFD Senior Fellow Valentina Colombo tries to give a definition of the word “terrorism” and argues that the Council’s decision is primarily a political one....
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Mention
04 March 2016
Syrian refugee camps – fertile breeding ground for Islamic radicals
“Turkey has been dealing with this refugee crisis for several years but Europe is only just waking up to what is a humanitarian tragedy” said EFD Executive Director Roberta Bonazzi while moderating the conference “Beyond Emergency Aid”, held at the European Parliament in Brussels....
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Article
03 March 2016
Regeni was exposed to danger by activist professors
Following her article on the murder of the Italian researcher Giulio Regeni, EFD Senior Fellow Valentina Colombo publishes another opinion piece on the issue....
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Mention
01 March 2016
#Turkey: Syrian refugee crisis can help ‘re-energize’ relations between Turkey and EU
EU Reporter writes about a recent event organised by the European Foundation for Democracy on the “Turkey-EU Deal on Refugees – Domestic and Foreign Policy Implications”. With regards to tackling the current impasse on EU/Turkey relations, EFD senior policy advisor Dr Demir Murat Seyrek argued that opening accession chapters, particularly those on the rule of law and justice, could be a useful step forward for both parties....
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Mention
01 March 2016
Syrian refugee crisis can help ‘re-energise’ relations between Turkey and EU
The Brussels Times reports on the recent closed-door policy briefing organised by the European Foundation for Democracy on 29 February 2016. The event, entitled “Turkey-EU Deal on Refugees - Domestic and Foreign Policy Implications”, offered insights into the possibility of positive benefits for EU/Turkey relations with regards to cooperation in the handling of the refugee crisis....
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Mention
01 March 2016
What gender perceptions do Muslim men maintain?
Neue Zürcher Zeitung reports on why men from patriarchal structures are commonly considered a threat to society and points out some projects in the German capital, Berlin, that are working on this issue. One of the projects presented is “HEROES”, in which EFD Programme Director Ahmad Mansour works as a counselor....
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Mention
29 February 2016
Syrian refugee crisis can help ‘re-energise’ relations between Turkey and EU
EU today writes about the recently hosted closed-door policy briefing organised by the European Foundation for Democracy on 29 February 2016. The briefing, entitled “Turkey-EU Deal on Refugees – Domestic and Foreign Policy Implications”, considered to what extent cooperation on the refugee situation has the potential to help reinvigorate EU-Turkey relations....
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Article
28 February 2016
Taboos for Muslim women: riding a bicycle
EFD Senior Fellow Valentina Colombo comments the words of Ali Abu Shwaima, head of the Islamic Centre of the Lombardy region in Italy. Abu Shaima was reported saying that Islamic women can “ride a Cadillac, a Mercedes, but not a bicycle”, words that have been heavily criticised in Italy....
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Article
25 February 2016
Law anti-mosques rejected – One way religious freedom
EFD Senior Fellow Valentina Colombo comments on the rejection by the Italian Constitutional Court of the regional law regulating the construction of new places of worship from an administrative and urban point of view, in Lombardy....
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Mention
24 February 2016
Former Islamist Warns Of Dangers Of Radical Islamism Among Young Germans And Migrants
Breitbart News reports on a talk at Hamburg University in which EFD Programme Director Ahmad Mansour discusses his book “Generation Allah”. During the discussion, Mansour states that he wants to “get away from the narrow discussion of the few young people who connect with the Islamic State. This is only the tip of the iceberg. I’d like to talk about those who belong to us; those who go to our schools and still partially reject our values....
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Interview
24 February 2016
Muslims don’t need protection, they need societal debates
EFD Programme Director Ahmad Mansour is interviewed about the growing number of young people he encounters in schools, who are unable to harmonise their religious convictions with fundamental laws. Mansour expresses that it is essential to understand their individual motives to address the roots of the problem....
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Broadcast
24 February 2016
The Arabic deradicaliser
EFD Programme Director Ahmad Mansour is a guest on German radio show Eine Stunde Talk. Discussing his book “Generation Allah”, Mansour stresses that the radicalised youth he references in his publication are made up of young Germans rather than constituting an issue of immigration....
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Article
22 February 2016
Islam and violence against women – Controversial questions
EFD Senior Fellow Valentina Colombo writes about the project "Aisha", launch in the Italian city of Milan, which aims to eradicate violence and discrimination against women, in particular Muslim women. Although the initiative seems to have good intentions, Colombo can't help pointing out the legacies between some of the organizations behind the project and Muslim Brotherhood. It is therefore imperative to understand who is behind such project and...
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Article
22 February 2016
Islam and violence against women. Thorny questions
EFD Senior Fellow Valentina Colombo writes about "Aisha", a project denouncing violence and discrimination against women, promoted by the "Coordinamento delle Associazioni Islamiche di Milano Monza e Brianza (CAIM)", an Italian Islamic organisation ideologically linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, and coordinated by Sumaya Abdel Qader, head of the department Youth & Students of the Federation of Islamic organisations in Europe....
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Mention
19 February 2016
Russia and the US play games, the Kurds are stuck in the middle
Dr. Murat Seyrek is quoted in an article on De Morgen for his expertise on Turkey, in the aftermath of the recent terrorist attack which killed 28. The Turkish government was quick to blame the Kurds but Dr. Seyrek urges caution and warns about the risks of complicating an already extremely complex crisis....
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Article
19 February 2016
Safety first in Syria
EFD Fellow Anna Borshchevskaya discusses the necessity of implementing safe zones in Syria and why failure to do so will increase the humanitarian disaster while at the same time threaten both regional and European stability....
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Op-Ed
17 February 2016
Countering Russian and Assad Regime Responses to Safe Zones
EFD Fellow Anna Borshchevskaya examines what the West should do in order to establish safe zones at the Turkish-Syrian border....
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Mention
16 February 2016
Cia Chief: ISIS terror attempt is ‘inevitable’
EFD Senior Policy Advisor Lorenzo Vidino is quoted by WWLP as explaining why ISIS has not launched a major terrorist attack in America so far. "Partially it is geography, the distance between here and Syria and Iraq, the fact that you have a very small number of Americans who are a part of ISIS, while in Europe you have thousands of individuals", Vidino explains....
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Broadcast
15 February 2016
Ahmad Mansour was an Islamist himself as an adolescent
EFD Programme Director Ahmad Mansour is interviewed about the rising number of overwhelmed teachers in Germany who say they are faced with students’ voicing their approval of Islamist attacks and the actions of the so-called Islamic State. He elaborates on the importance and methods of challenging students’ statements by means of engaging them in open discussions....
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Article
11 February 2016
Corruption and Terrorist Violence Pose Obstacles to Peace
EFD Senior Fellow Magnus Norell writes about the Swedish government's decision not to recognise an independent Western Sahara (or rather the Polisario movement). Among the issues discussed, he examines what has prevented the Swedish administration from recognising the independence of Western Sahara to date and what are the implications of Sweden's decision....
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Mention
11 February 2016
What’s holding you back? time to join Marie Claire’s #BREAKFREE campaign!
EFD Fellow Tehmina Kazi is featured in the Marie Clair spot and campaign #BREAKFREE, which aims, alongside nine ambassadors from across the UK , to are take a stand on gender equality....
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Broadcast
10 February 2016
We must get the youth to think critically
EFD Programme Director Ahmad Mansour is interviewed about the rising number of Salafists in Germany who are willing to resort to violence and why consistent work with youth constitutes an effective antidote to this phenomenon....
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