INTERNACIONAL
France clamps down on Muslim extremists by halting appointment of foreign clerics
A newly enacted law in France aims to reform how Islam is viewed by society.
The law, which bans foreign imams from operating in the country, is an attempt by the government to combat religious extremism in a highly secularized nation.
Foreign imams already in the country will either be sent back to their country of origin or take on new, lower-level positions at local mosques.
The government will appoint religious leaders and others to a body called the Forum of Islam in France, where these officials will help guide France’s Muslim communities and root out any potential elements of radicalization.
FRANCE STRUGGLES WITH SYSTEMIC RACISM AND NEW SECURITY LAW AS PROTESTS ROCK COUNTRY
Students attend a Koran study class at the European Institute of Social Sciences in Saint-Leger-de-Fougeret, central France, Oct. 28, 2020 (Philippe Desmazes/AFP via Getty Images)
President Emmanuel Macron first proposed the initiative in a February 2020 speech that emphasized France’s role in upholding Republican values and warned those values could be undermined by religious extremists. Notably, Macron called out the repressive treatment of women by Islamic extremists, which is antithetical to France’s Republican values of equality.
EU LEADER INSISTS HISTORIC MIGRANT DEAL AIMED AT CURBING FLOW OF ASYLUM SEEKERS ‘DOES NOT COPY THE RIGHT’
Macron’s new initiative ends a program, created in 1977, that allowed several Muslim majority countries to send imams to France for cultural and language courses that are not subjected to French government oversight.
Macron contends Imams who are funded by foreign governments may promote what Macron has called «Islamic separatism,» or the idea that France’s Muslim community wants to replace French law and customs with its own religious laws. Critics argue the body, full of political appointees, will not truly be representative of France’s Muslim population.
Muslims gather in a room in Bordeaux for Eid al-Fitr prayers June 25, 2017. (Mehdi Fedouach/AFP via Getty Images)
«Some worry about how representative this body is of the French Muslim community, and some worry that this is a strategy for the French to control French Muslims,» Elizabeth Carter, an assistant professor of political science at the University of New Hampshire, told Fox News Digital.
«A more cynical perspective would argue that this was Macron’s response to the growing popularity of the far right and an attempt for him to broaden his party’s appeal to far-right voters,» Carter said.
Supporters claim the initiative will help better integrate France’s Muslim community into society and prevent discrimination.
French President Emmanuel Macron (Christian Liewig/ Corbis/Getty Images)
France has struggled with Islamist terrorism in the past and has been a frequent target of terrorist groups. In 2015, French and Belgian nationals with ties to ISIS launched a massive and coordinated terrorist attack in Paris that killed 130 people and wounded nearly 500 throughout the city.
That same year, armed gunmen targeted the office of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, killing 12 people, with al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula claiming responsibility for the attack. The following year, an ISIS sympathizer drove a truck into a crowd of spectators watching fireworks on Bastille Day in Nice, killing 86 people. Fançois Hollande, French president at the time, ordered retaliatory air strikes against ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria.
Marine Le Pen, president of the French far-right National Rally Party, smiles to the crowd during a meeting in Paris to launch the RN’s campaign for the European elections of May 2019. (Chesnot/Getty Images)
FRANCE LOOKING TO DEPORT IMMIGRANTS WITH EXTREMIST TIES AFTER TEACHER KILLED BY MAN SHOUTING ‘ALLAHU AKBAR’
The attacks, and France’s subsequent response in the Middle East, led to a steady rise in anti-Muslim sentiment throughout France. An estimated 1,910 French citizens would go on and travel to Iraq and Syria to fight for ISIS.
Riot police stand near a burning car in the La Meinau neighborhood of Strasbourg, eastern France, June 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)
Much like the United States, illegal immigration has become a hot-button issue for French voters. As a secular country, it has struggled with integrating its Muslim population, leaving many feeling marginalized and unrecognized.
As recently as August 2023, France banned traditional Islamic garb from public schools, which many considered a policy to suppress Muslim identity. France passed the Upholding Republican Values law in 2021, which gave the government broad powers to monitor and dissolve religious organizations that promote values that run counter to French Republican values.
Controversially, the law allowed authorities to increase surveillance on mosques and Muslim associations, according to Human Rights Watch.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Muslims represent 10% of the population in metropolitan France, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies, and comprise the largest population of Muslims in Western Europe. French public policy focuses on promoting French national identity as a means of integrating its minority populations.
Many times, minority groups have complained that it stifles their nationalities and breeds resentment against their communities.
INTERNACIONAL
Guerra en Ucrania: Trump «clama encarecidamente» a Putin que salve la vida de miles de tropas ucranianas «rodeadas»
El posteo de Trump comienza diciendo que su equipo tuvo «conversaciones muy buenas y productivas con el presidente ruso, Vladimir Putin», el jueves, en alusión al encuentro con el enviado de Trump Steve Witkoff en Moscú.
En ese encuentro a puertas cerradas, Putin habría comunicado a Witkoff lo que ya había advertido en una rueda de prensa más temprano: que aceptaba la tregua de 30 días acordada entre Ucrania y Estados Unidos, días atrás, pero «que había mucho trabajo por hacer».
A esa aclaración, Putin habría agregado una serie de imposibles condiciones para Kiev, como quedarse con parte del territorio ucraniano ocupado.
En su posteo, Trump luego se refiere a las tropas ucranianas «rodeadas», probablemente en la región rusa de Kursk, donde las fuerzas del Kremlin han estado avanzando contra las fuerzas ucranianas.
A pesar de que el presidente estadounidense se refiere a «miles» de tropas aisladas, es poco probable que este sea el caso, aunque es cierto que los ucranianos están perdiendo su posición en Kursk, una porción de suelo ruso que Kiev logró controlar meses atrás.
El jueves, la localidad de Sudzha fue recuperada por las fuerzas rusas. A principios de semana se vieron imágenes de las tropas ucranianas huyendo de esa ciudad clave.
En su mensaje Trump escribió: «EN ESTE MISMO MOMENTO, MILES DE TROPAS UCRANIANAS ESTÁN COMPLETAMENTE RODEADAS POR EL EJÉRCITO RUSO, EN UNA SITUACIÓN MUY MALÍSIMA Y VULNERABLE.
He solicitado encarecidamente al presidente Putin que se les perdone la vida.
Esta sería una masacre horrible, no vista desde la Segunda Guerra Mundial.
¡Que Dios los bendiga a todos!».
Donald Trump ha presentado su postura sobre la guerra como la de una figura humanitaria que quiere detener las matanzas, opinó Clarke.
Hamas agreed Friday to release Edan Alexander, the last living American hostage in captivity in the Gaza Strip.
Alexander, a 21-year-old Israeli-American, will be released along with the bodies of four other hostages, according to a deal offered by mediators. As of Friday, Alexander has been held captive for 525 days, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said.
The bodies that will be released are of dual-national hostages, the Associated Press reported. It’s unclear when the transfer will happen, but it comes as talks are ongoing in Qatar to establish the next phase of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, the first phase of which ended on March 1.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Friday that he will convene his ministerial team on Saturday to receive a detailed report from negotiators and decide on the next steps for the release of the hostages.
MEET EDAN ALEXANDER, THE LAST LIVING AMERICAN HOSTAGE IN HAMAS CAPTIVITY
Edan Alexander, born in Tel Aviv and raised in New Jersey, is currently being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza. (Hostage Family Forum)
Steve Witkoff, special envoy to the Middle East, presented to Israel and Hamas a U.S. proposal for extending the ceasefire by several weeks in exchange for more hostage releases from Hamas and the resumption of humanitarian aid into the war-torn Gaza Strip, Axios reported Thursday, citing sources with direct knowledge of the plan.
«While Israel has accepted the Witkoff proposal, Hamas remains firm in its refusal and has not moved an inch,» Netanayhu said Friday. «At the same time, it continues to employ manipulations and psychological warfare.»
Last week, Witkoff told reporters outside the White House that «Edan Alexander is very important to us as all the hostages are.»
Senior Hamas official Basem Naim told Fox News on Friday that «a delegation from the Hamas movement’s leadership received a proposal from mediators yesterday to resume negotiations, and responded responsibly and positively.
«The movement submitted its response early this morning, agreeing to release… Edan Alexander, who holds U.S. citizenship, along with the remains of four others with dual citizenship,» Naim added. «We reaffirm our full readiness to engage in negotiations and reach a comprehensive agreement on the issues of the second phase, and call for obligating the occupation to fully implement its commitments.»
Though he spent most of his life in New Jersey, Alexander was born in Israel a few months before his parents moved to the U.S., according to the American Jewish Committee (AJC).
After graduating from high school, Alexander decided he would enlist in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) rather than enroll in college.
Yael Alexander, the mother of hostage Edan Alexander, speaks during The ‘Run for Their Lives’ rally and run in Central Park on the 100th day since the October 7 attack by Hamas, on Jan. 14, 2024 in New York City. (Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images)
On Oct. 7, Alexander, who was serving in the IDF’s Golani Brigade, an infantry unit, was patrolling near Gaza when Hamas’ attacks on Israel began. The attacks ended with 1,200 Israelis dead and 251 hostages taken, including Alexander.
Yael Alexander, Edan’s mother, recounted the day he was taken hostage in a recent interview with AJC’s «People of the Pod.» Yael was in Israel in early October 2023, visiting her family and hoping to see Edan. On the morning of Oct. 7, she spoke with Edan, who said that he was seeing «terrible stuff,» but he assured her that he was safe. Then he was taken hostage.
On Nov. 30, 2024, more than a year after Alexander was captured, Hamas released a video of Alexander speaking in Hebrew and Arabic. Alexander, like other hostages forced to make propaganda videos, delivered messages about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-President-elect Donald Trump.
AFTER TRUMP THREAT, HAMAS REFUSES TO RELEASE MORE HOSTAGES WITHOUT PHASE 2 CEASEFIRE DEAL
Donald Trump, is shown photos of Edan Alexander by his mother Yael Alexander at Ohel Chabad Lubavitch on Oct. 7, 2024 in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
A few days after the video’s release, Adi Alexander, Edan’s father, spoke with «Fox & Friends First,» calling the film «very emotional» and «disturbing.» He said it was the first time they had seen a sign of life from their son since he was taken hostage.
Trump warned Hamas earlier this month to «Release all of the Hostages now, not later, and immediately return all of the dead bodies of the people you murdered, or it is OVER for you.»
«A beautiful Future awaits, but not if you hold Hostages. If you do, you are DEAD! Make a SMART decision. RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW, OR THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY LATER!» Trump said.
Donald Trump is seen posing with a photo of Edan Alexander on Oct. 7, 2024 in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said Friday that it «wholeheartedly welcomes the return of every hostage — whether they come home for rehabilitation or burial.»
«The return of any number of hostages must only be the beginning of an immediate and comprehensive deal to secure the release of ‘all hostages,’» it added. «As President Trump has assured our families and the world, and as he has stated time and again, the return of all hostages is a top priority for his adminsitration. His commitment to bringing our loved ones home has given us hope during this darkest of times.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
«As of today, 59 hostages remain,» the group also said. «We pray every single day for a deal that brings every one of them home, immediately.»
Fox News’ Yael Rotem-Kuriel, Trey Yingst, Rachel Wolf and Stephen Sorace contributed to this report.
Entonces, ¿qué va a pasar?
La actividad solidaria de la que participó Máxima Zorreguieta que la “sacó de sus casillas” por unos segundos
Mica Viciconte aseguró que no asistirá a la fiesta de Allegra, la hija de Nicole Neumann
Guerra en Ucrania: Trump «clama encarecidamente» a Putin que salve la vida de miles de tropas ucranianas «rodeadas»
Del ascenso profundo argentino a jugar la Copa Libertadores
Revelan los impactantes resultados de las pericias psicológicas en la disputa legal entre Wanda Nara y Mauro Icardi
Hamas agrees to release Edan Alexander, the last living American hostage
Documentos oficiales: la Argentina enfrenta 236 demandas fuera del país por más de US$27.000 millones
Santiago Cúneo: «El país necesita más gobernadores como Quintela» y lanza su candidatura para 2025″
Lilia Lemoine se peleó con Marcela Pagano y Rocío Bonacci por dar quórum a una iniciativa del peronismo
Pedro Rosemblat imitó a Javier Milei y se burló de Jonatan Viale tomando leche: «Hicieron una parodia de su entrevista»
El número de muertos por las inundaciones en Bahía Blanca subió a 15
Guillermo Francos apuntó contra los barras que se manifestaron en el Congreso: “Usaron a los jubilados”
La “Luna de Sangre” iluminará el cielo: a qué hora ver el eclipse total en Argentina
El fenómeno astronómico podrá observarse desde distintos países, pero el próximo ocurrirá recién en 2026. La entrada La “Luna de...
Julián Álvarez rompió el silencio tras el polémico penal que le anularon ante Real Madrid
El delantero argentino le agradeció a la afición del Atlético de Madrid. No hubo quejas sobre la polémica. La entrada...
Martín Demichelis, en la cuerda floja en Rayados de Monterrey
El equipo fue eliminado de la Concacaf y los aficionados cruzaron al entrenador argentino. La entrada Martín Demichelis, en la...
-
POLITICA2 días agoLilia Lemoine se peleó con Marcela Pagano y Rocío Bonacci por dar quórum a una iniciativa del peronismo
-
POLITICA1 día ago
Guillermo Francos apuntó contra los barras que se manifestaron en el Congreso: “Usaron a los jubilados”
-
POLITICA2 días ago
Marcha de jubilados: fuerte tensión y cruces de los barrabravas con la policía en el inicio de la protesta frente al Congreso
