Media

Mention 15 July 2016

EU-wide condemnation of Bastille Day terrorist attacks in Nice

EFD Executive Director Roberta Bonazzi is interviewed by The Parliament Magazine on the attack which occurred in the French city of Niece....

Article 15 July 2016

Isis hits France again with a massacre in Niece. Europe must declare war on Islamic terrorism

EFD Senior Fellow Valentina Colombo comments the recent terror attacks which occurred in Nice in the early hours of 15 July....

Mention 15 July 2016

It is time to reckon with the various shades of Jihad à la carte

«Self criticism, either personal or collectively, is a value and a practice that does not resonate well among Muslims. They tend to protect the members of the communities, the group they are part of and the reputation of their religion» said EFD Senior Fellow Valentina Colombo to Vita International....

Mention 14 July 2016

Alfano’s manoeuvre “transparency for mosques” divides the Italian Sunni community

The Italian Minister of Interior Angelino Alfano is backing a proposal to guarantee that only certified imams will be able to preach in Italian mosques; sermons must be translated into Italian....

Article 11 July 2016

All hate preachers have passed through Italy

EFD Senior Fellow Valentina Colombo condemns Italy for not prohibiting Muslim hate preachers from entering Italy....

Article 09 July 2016

We are not your toys

In this guest contribution for taz, EFD Programme Director Ahmad Mansour comments on the indignation of German left-wing politicians to demand a reform of outdated interpretations of Islam from within the Muslim community. Muslims are capable of accepting criticism when it comes to their religion and must not be handled with kid gloves, Mansour writes....

Article 08 July 2016

The Muslim Brotherhood in Sweden

EFD Senior Fellow Magnus Norell writes for The Huffington Post about the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood in Sweden....

Broadcast 06 July 2016

Islam, Students and the Media

EFD Fellow Tehmina Kazi speaks with Usama Hassan at The National Federation of Atheist, Humanist and Secular Student Societies conference on the relationship between Islam, students and the media....

Mention 04 July 2016

Germany harbors 300 Hamas, 950 Hezbollah members and activists

EFD Senior Policy Advisor Alexander Ritzmann is mentioned by the well known Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post regarding the influence of Hamas and Hezbollah in Europe....

Article 04 July 2016

Muslim Brotherhood

EFD Senior Fellow Magnus Norell writes about the influence the Muslim Brotherhood has established in Sweden and other European countries over the years, starting from World War Two....

Mention 04 July 2016

Whitewashing Sharia councils in the UK?

EFD Senior Fellow Elham Manea is mentioned in an Open Letter to the UK Home Secretary where hundreds of women’s human rights organisations and campaigners warn against a further slide towards privatised justice and parallel legal systems. The letter has been signed also by EFD Fellow Tehmina Kazi....

Article 03 July 2016

The Quran brandished as a weapon of war

After the terror attacks occurred in Dhaka, at the Holey Artisan Bakery, EFD Senior Fellow Valentina Colombo writes about the Quran and how it has been instrumentalised to wage a holy war....

Article 02 July 2016

The sad ending of a heroic father and his prodigal son

EFD Senior Fellow Valentina Colombo writes about the suicide bombings that occurred at the Ataturk Airport in Istanbul on 28 June....

Article 01 July 2016

Seven Muslims out of ten have voted against Brexit

EFD Senior Fellow Valentina Colombo addresses the perspective of Islamic groups in relation to Brexit....

Interview 01 July 2016

Turkey: the expert says, for the Islamic State the peace between Ankara and the Russians is a risk

EFD Senior Policy Advisor Dr. Demir Murat Seyrek is interviewed by the Italian news agency Adnkronos....

Interview 29 June 2016

Turkey’s new foreign policy

EFD Senior Policy Advisor Demir Murat Seyrek is interviewed by the Italian newspaper Il Foglio in the wake of the terrorist attack in Istanbul of 28 June....

Article 28 June 2016

“Muslim, secular and reformist. This is not how the Democratic Party wants me”

"Dear Matteo Renzi, My name is Maryan Ismail, I am an Italian citizen of Somali origin, registered as a member of the Democratic Party (PD) (..). I am Muslim, secular and progressive. I consider myself as part of an Islam which, in numbers, represents the majority of Muslims, but that is financially unsupported and therefore unheard of"....

Broadcast 27 June 2016

Does Islam belong to Germany?

This interview, broadcasted on German radio station radio eins, is an audio recording from the monthly political discussion series Freitag Salon. EFD Programme Director Ahmad Mansour speaks about the necessity to differentiate between different understandings of Islam when it comes to the question of whether this religion belongs to Germany. It doesn’t help that the political left prevents discussions about Islam in the name of political correc...

Article 26 June 2016

Portrait of Rachid Al- Gannouchi, the biggest threat to the future of Tunisia

EFD Senior Fellow Valentina Colombo writes about the latest Ennahdha Congress, where the slogan of the event read: "Abandonment of political Islam and separation between politics and the practice of preaching"....

Article 24 June 2016

How Russia reacted to Orlando

EFD Fellow Anna Borshchevskaya writes about Russia's reaction after the Orlando shooting, where 50 people lost their lives....

Article 18 June 2016

Islam needs to reform

In this guest contribution for Tagesspiegel about the Islamist terror attack on a night club in Orlando on 12th June, EFD Programme Director Ahmad Mansour writes about the necessity of being allowed to criticise religion. “The tabooing of sexual issues is a problem in all patriarchic societies, also in Muslim ones” says Mansour as he pleads for a reform within Islam regarding sexuality, violence, authority, homophobia and anti-Semitism....

Mention 17 June 2016

EU puts schools at center of counter-radicalisation

EFD Senior Policy Advisor and member of the RAN’s counter-narrative working group Alexander Ritzmann is mentioned by EuranetPlus on radicalisation: “So, someone who says ‘I went to Syria, it’s not like they say - they’re lying to you, they’re killing Muslims, it’s a corrupt organisation. It’s not a big adventure where you can be a hero defending your faith,'” Ritzmann suggests....

Broadcast 16 June 2016

“Eins zu Eins. The talk Ahmad Mansour: Psychologist”

In this radio broadcast on Bayern 2, EFD Programme Director Ahmad Mansour talks about his own personal background as a former Islamist back in Israel, his time as a student of psychology in Berlin and the multiple projects he is currently involved in....

Op-Ed 16 June 2016

Can Turkey’s ‘Iron Lady’ thwart Erdogan’s game plan?

EFD Senior Policy Advisor Demir Murat Seyrek gives his opinion on the possibility of Turkish politician Meral Aksener taking over leadership of the opposition Nationalist Movement Party and thus threatening Erdogan’s plans of changing the current political system into an executive presidency....

Article 16 June 2016

The pervasive shadow of suicide for salvation

The Orlando shooting, which saw the massacre of 50 homosexuals, has re-opened the debate on the relationship between Isis and Islam, homosexuals and Islam and many other questions. EFD Senior Fellow Valentina Colombo, professor of geopolitics in the Islamic world, has much to say about this incident....

Interview 15 June 2016

7 Things you need to know about jihadists in the United States

EFD Senior Policy Advisor Lorenzo Vidino is interviewed by POLITICO in the wake of the terrorist attack in Orlando of June 12. He dispells myths on radicalisation and elaborates on key characteristics of jihadism that are posing problems for intelligence agencies....

Op-Ed 15 June 2016

The fall-out from the Brussels terrorist attacks

EFD Visiting Fellow Pieter Van Ostaeyen gives his opinion on the next steps to take following the terrorist attacks on Brussels of March 22. These include "analysing the work carried out by security and intelligence forces nationally and transnationally, in order to properly determined were the weak spots were, along with re-evaluating integration policies in Europe, which have, to large extent, failed."...

Broadcast 09 June 2016

Talking Turkey

EFD Senior Policy Advisor Dr. Demir Murat Seyrek joined the Global Markets Forum on live broadcast to provide insights on Turkey's political and economic outlook....

Mention 06 June 2016

I am underway to win over Muslims

This article, from the Swiss magazine aufbruch, reports on EFD Programme Director Ahmad Mansour’s speech regarding the issue of radicalisation amongst German youth. Mansour spoke at the 2016 Symposium on Intergation in Basel....

Article 06 June 2016

What lies behind the veil of the charming Emira of Qatar

EFD Senior Fellow Dr. Valentina Colombo comments the recent encounter between the Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and the Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser al-Missned, second of three wives of the former Emir of Qatar Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani....

Article 03 June 2016

Al Jazeera’s Crusades. Relaunching jihad

EFD Senior Fellow Valentina Colombo comments on the imminent release of a new documentary produced by the Al Jazeera Documentary Channel on the Crusades. The aim is to present this period from an Arab perspective, as the Director of the channel, Ahmed Mahfouz, explains....

Interview 02 June 2016

“The handshake-debate in Switzerland: far from a frivolous issue”

In this interview with Swiss Tages Woche, EFD Programme Director Ahmad Mansour talks about the enforcement of handshakes in Swiss schools as a reaction to the handshake-debate in Therwil. For the boys it wasn’t about rebellion or an act of defiance, Mansour says; behaviour of this sort is a sign of exposure to ideology. That’s why it’s important to have a debate and to underline that disregarding the founding principles of democracy and gen...

Article 02 June 2016

Banning and negotiating are not contradictory

EFD Senior Policy Advisor Alexander Ritzmann writes about Hezbollah’s status within Germany and the EU after the group’s recent classification as a terrorist organisation by the League of the Arab States. The European Member States should send a clear signal by jointly banning Hezbollah, Ritzmann argues, thus prompting the group to change its behaviour....

Article 01 June 2016

Milions of euros from Qatar for mosques and quranic schools. Mayors (DP) and churches approve

EFD Senior Fellow Valentina Colombo writes about the recent investments of the Qatar Charity directed towards Islamic centres in various cities in the north of Italy....

Broadcast 30 May 2016

“Ahmad Mansour: ‘It’s not about the bomb’”

This contribution broadcasted by Swiss tv channel telebasel reports on the 4th Basel Symposium on Integration, where EFD Programme Director Ahmad Mansour took a stand on the Swiss handshake-debate (referring to the refusal of two Muslim students to shake their female teacher’s hand). “We mustn’t settle for those who want to teach us that this doesn’t have anything to do with Islam, with religion”, Mansour says, “we need an honest, bra...

Article 27 May 2016

Don’t ban the burqa- challenge the modesty doctrine instead

EFD Fellow Tehmina Kazi voices her opinion regarding the use of niqabis in the UK and the political and ideological dilemmas that comes with banning the use of such garments....

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