di Luca Grandicelli La Corte di appello di Torino ha disposto la cessazione immediata del trattenimento di Mohamed Shahin, l’imam di Torino incarcerato il 12 novembre 2024 nel Cpr di Caltanissetta. La magistratura ha infatti accolto le istanze dell’avvocato della difesa, richiamandosi direttamente alla direttiva europea che stabilisce come il trattenimento dei richiedenti protezione internazionale debba rappresentare un’eccezione e non una regola, ed escludendo inoltre la sussistenza di una concreta e attuale pericolosità. Di fatto, ristabilendo un principio elementare dello Stato di diritto, ovvero che la privazione della libertà personale non può fondarsi su presupposti politici, né su valutazioni generiche o preventive. L’incarcerazione si è basata infatti sulle motivazioni descritte nel decreto d’espulsione, che vedevano Shahin come portatore di un’ideologia fondamentalista e antisemita e come figura di rilievo in ambienti dell’Islam radicale, con presunti legami con soggetti indagati per terrorismo, accuse da lui sempre respinte. La Corte d’appello di Torino ha ridimensionato tali elementi, chiarendo che i contatti richiamati erano sporadici e risalenti nel tempo, limitati a un’identificazione del 2012 e a una conversazione del 2018 tra terzi, e che erano stati adeguatamente chiariti dallo stesso Shahin nel corso della convalida. Di tutto questo sono state consapevoli migliaia di persone che nelle ultime settimane si sono riversate nelle piazze, di Torino e non solo, per protestare contro quello che è parso un palese esercizio strumentale del diritto per fini puramente politici. Mohamed Shahin, padre di due figli, incensurato, vive da oltre vent’anni in Italia ed è considerato un punto di riferimento per la comunità musulmana e per il dialogo interreligioso nella città e provincia di Torino. Per lui si sono mobilitate non solo persone comuni, i fedeli delle comunità musulmane italiane, ma anche voci autorevoli (e insospettabili) come il vescovo Derio Olivero, Presidente della Commissione della Cei per l’Ecumenismo e il Dialogo, che in un video diffuso sui social ha espresso solidarietà e chiesto la sua liberazione immediata. E poi associazioni per i diritti umani, intellettuali e sindacati. L’episodio conferma dunque, e per ora, come l’Italia sia ancora un paese in cui i magistrati esercitano il proprio ruolo nella più totale libertà e autonomia, nonostante i tentativi e piani dell’esecutivo di delegittimarli, controllarli e indirizzare l’esercizio delle loro funzioni su linee politiche di governo. Vale la pena dunque ricordare alla Presidente del Consiglio Giorgia Meloni, che si chiede come “si fa a difendere la sicurezza degli italiani se ogni iniziativa che va in questo senso viene sistematicamente annullata da alcuni giudici”, che la magistratura serve proprio a questo scopo: a evitare che il potere esecutivo eserciti unilateralmente azioni arbitrarie, a garantire che la sicurezza non diventi un alibi per comprimere diritti fondamentali e a ricordare che, in uno Stato di diritto, la legge non è uno strumento di repressione del dissenso politico; che la separazione dei poteri, quello esecutivo da quello giudiziario, non è un intralcio all’azione di governo, ma la condizione stessa della democrazia. Il caso Shahin non è quindi una sconfitta dello Stato, ma una sua riaffermazione, che trova la sua forza non quando reprime, ma quando accetta di essere limitato dal diritto. Un concetto, quest’ultimo, che su certi versanti a destra non è evidentemente di casa o si estende solo “fino a un certo punto”. IL BLOG SOSTENITORE OSPITA I POST SCRITTI DAI LETTORI CHE HANNO DECISO DI CONTRIBUIRE ALLA CRESCITA DE ILFATTOQUOTIDIANO.IT, SOTTOSCRIVENDO L’OFFERTA SOSTENITORE E DIVENTANDO COSÌ PARTE ATTIVA DELLA NOSTRA COMMUNITY. TRA I POST INVIATI, PETER GOMEZ E LA REDAZIONE SELEZIONERANNO E PUBBLICHERANNO QUELLI PIÙ INTERESSANTI. QUESTO BLOG NASCE DA UN’IDEA DEI LETTORI, CONTINUATE A RENDERLO IL VOSTRO SPAZIO. DIVENTARE SOSTENITORE SIGNIFICA ANCHE METTERCI LA FACCIA, LA FIRMA O L’IMPEGNO: ADERISCI ALLE NOSTRE CAMPAGNE, PENSATE PERCHÉ TU ABBIA UN RUOLO ATTIVO! SE VUOI PARTECIPARE, AL PREZZO DI “UN CAPPUCCINO ALLA SETTIMANA” POTRAI ANCHE SEGUIRE IN DIRETTA STREAMING LA RIUNIONE DI REDAZIONE DEL GIOVEDÌ – MANDANDOCI IN TEMPO REALE SUGGERIMENTI, NOTIZIE E IDEE – E ACCEDERE AL FORUM RISERVATO DOVE DISCUTERE E INTERAGIRE CON LA REDAZIONE. SCOPRI TUTTI I VANTAGGI! L'articolo Libero l’imam di Torino: alla destra che contesta, ricordo che la legge non serve a reprimere il dissenso proviene da Il Fatto Quotidiano.

In Austria, d’ora in avanti, le ragazze con meno di 14 anni non potranno più indossare l’hijab a scuola. La decisione è stata approvata dal Parlamento di Vienna a larga maggioranza. Secondo il governo guidato dal conservatore Christian Stocker del Partito popolare austriaco, il divieto mira a proteggere le ragazze dall’oppressione. Il partito dei Verdi, all’opposizione, ha votato contro il bando del velo islamico, affermando che si tratta di una misura incostituzionale. La decisione è stata già contestata da attivisti e gruppi per i diritti umani, che parlano di discriminazione e denunciano il rischio di creare divisioni all’interno della società austriaca. Alle ultime elezioni politiche, il partito di estrema destra Fpo aveva sfiorato il 30%. L'articolo Austria, il parlamento approva il divieto per le ragazze sotto i 14 anni di indossare l’hijab a scuola proviene da Il Fatto Quotidiano.

Cittadini di San Salvario, quartiere multietnico al centro di Torino, rappresentanti religiosi e civici, nessuna bandiera, neanche quelle palestinesi. Con un presidio alla moschea di via Saluzzo, giovedì sera, una parte della società civile di Torino ha manifestato solidarietà a Mohamed Shahin, imam su cui pende un provvedimento di espulsione per le frasi pronunciate nel corso di una manifestazione per Gaza il 9 novembre. In questi giorni, cattolici e valdesi impegnati nel dialogo interreligioso, la sezione dell’Anpi del quartiere, la Cgil e altri ancora hanno chiesto la revoca del decreto firmato dal ministro dell’Interno Matteo Piantedosi in persona dopo l’interrogazione della deputata torinese di Fratelli d’Italia, Augusta Montaruli. Shahin è al momento nel Centro di permanenza per il rimpatrio (Cpr) a Caltanissetta, lontano da famiglia e avvocati. Una serie di personalità legate alla rete torinese del dialogo cristiano-islamico, tra cui il vescovo di Pinerolo Derio Olivero (presidente della Commissione Cei per l’ecumenismo e il dialogo), rappresentanti della Chiesa valdese (con il pastore valdese Francesco Sciotto) e il coordinamento dei centri islamici, ha scritto una lettera al presidente della Repubblica Sergio Mattarella. Hanno ricordato sì che, nel corso della manifestazione, l’imam ha affermato di ritenere gli attacchi di Hamas “non una violenza, ma una reazione ad anni di oppressione”, ma anche che “l’imam aveva già rettificato e cui aveva fatto seguito un comunicato congiunto” dei rappresentanti delle diverse comunità religiose cittadine (cattolici, valdesi, ebrei e musulmani) contro l’intolleranza e per la pace. La rete del dialogo interreligioso e anche l’Anpi sottolineano come l’eventuale espulsione di Shahin metta a rischio anni di dialogo e progettualità a cui l’imam partecipa in prima persona: “La moschea di via Saluzzo è sempre stata aperta e collaborativa – si legge nella nota del circolo Anpi del quartiere –. Ha ospitato iniziative che hanno coinvolto tutte le comunità religiose e laiche”. “Come la maggior parte dei centri culturali islamici della Città di Torino, la moschea di via Saluzzo è sempre stata aperta e collaborativa, ospitando iniziative che hanno coinvolto tutte le comunità, laiche e religiose, testimoniando concretamente e giorno dopo giorno l’impegno sincero della sua direzione, dell’imam e di tutti i fedeli nel senso del rispetto delle leggi, della pace e della cooperazione civile e interculturale”, si legge nella lettera della rete del dialogo. Conferma Sergio Velluto, presidente del concistoro della chiesa valdese (il consiglio dei fedeli) e componente del comitato interfedi della città: “La cosa stupisce perché era molto conosciuto. Pochi mesi fa c’è la giornata delle moschee aperte, dove siamo stati accolti dall’imam Shahin. Da anni gestisce una delle moschee più integrate e attive nel dialogo interreligioso. Proprio la sua moschea aveva chiesto di diffondere la Costituzione italiana scritta in arabo ai suoi fedeli. Lui ha espresso opinioni sue, ma arrivare a deportare una persona come lui per delle opinioni è preoccupante”. L’imam italiano Gabriel Iungo (in passato finito nell’occhio del ciclone per aver rilanciato una vignetta sulle stragi del 7 ottobre), in un lungo post di Facebook ha denunciato un paradosso: “‘Per ragioni di sicurezza’ legate a dichiarazioni problematiche – pure rettificate – andrebbe a discapito proprio di quella sicurezza che si vorrebbe tutelare, in un quartiere ed in periferie dove figure come la sua operano da anni, in stretta collaborazione con istituzioni e forze dell’ordine, come riferimenti educativi essenziali anche per arginare criminalità e disagio giovanile”. Ha ricordato inoltre come, nel corso di tante manifestazioni a sostegno della causa palestinese, la sinagoga di Torino non sia mai stata “oggetto di aggressioni o episodi antisemiti” anche per il “fatto di avere come ‘vicini di casa’ comunità islamiche responsabili, moderate e moderatrici”, prive di “predicatori d’odio, facinorosi o estremisti violenti”. “Al di là di eventuali violazioni, che spetta all’autorità giudiziaria verificare – premette la Cgil in un comunicato –, chiediamo il rientro immediato a Torino di Shahin e l’immediata revoca del provvedimento di espulsione. Stigmatizziamo l’uso di strumenti amministrativi finalizzati alla gestione dell’immigrazione che troppo spesso sono utilizzati come strumenti di razzializzazione del dissenso, effetti del clima che il decreto sicurezza ha generato nel nostro paese”. Le autorità di polizia ritengono Shahin “una minaccia concreta, attuale e grave per la sicurezza dello Stato”, è scritto nel decreto firmato da Piantedosi. Secondo quanto riportato, Shahin è un esponente della Fratellanza musulmana in Italia e questo lo metterebbe a rischio nell’Egitto guidato dal generale Al-Sisi, che ha preso il potere con un golpe un anno dopo l’elezione, nel 2012, di Mohammed Morsi, leader dell’organizzazione. Sempre secondo quanto riportato dal provvedimento, Shahin avrebbe “intrapreso un percorso di radicalizzazione religiosa connotata da una spiccata ideologia antisemita” e risulta “in contatto con soggetti noti per la visione violenta dell’Islam”: i suoi comportamenti sarebbero quindi una “minaccia sufficientemente grave per la sicurezza dello Stato” e si teme che “agevoli in vario modo organizzazioni o attività terroristiche”. Un punto di vista diverso rispetto a quello delle persone impegnate nel dialogo tra fedi. Già due anni fa, l’8 novembre 2023, le autorità negarono a Shahin la cittadinanza italiana per “ragioni di sicurezza dello Stato”. Di fronte a questo quadro, però, agli avvocati dell’imam risulta soltanto un procedimento pendente per un blocco stradale. L'articolo Vescovo, pastore valdese, Anpi, Cgil, cittadini in piazza: Torino si mobilita contro l’espulsione dell’imam decisa da Piantedosi. Lettera inviata a Mattarella proviene da Il Fatto Quotidiano.

“Pensavo che quello che stava succedendo a Gaza avrebbe comportato fatalmente un rigurgito generale in tutto il mondo di antisemitismo. E allo stesso modo ritenevo che sarebbe prima o poi riemersa pure la questione dell’antiislamismo. Sono stato colpito dalla violenza con la quale si è attribuito all’Islam la giornata del 7 ottobre 2023. L’opinione pubblica ha esteso la responsabilità da Hamas nel suo complesso a tutto l’Islam. Una mancanza di analisi che colpisce in un mondo che poi pretende di essere libero”. A denunciarlo lo storico Franco Cardini, autore di “Grazie Islam! Quelle poche, piccole cose che l’occidente moderno deve al mondo musulmano”, edito da Paper First, presentando il volume all’Auditorium del Centro islamico culturale d’Italia, alla Grande Moschea di Roma. Un’iniziativa alla quale hanno partecipato anche Shady Hamadi del Fatto Quotidiano, i professori Marco Di Branco e Antonio Musarra della Sapienza e il segretario generale del Centro Islamico, Abdellah Redouane. “L’Islam è stato parte integrante della cultura occidentale. Affermare invece che sia estraneo al suo patrimonio storico, culturale e spirituale, così come parlare di civiltà inferiori e superiori, o di una esclusività giudeico-cristiana dello stesso Occidente, significa rinnegare secoli di presenza islamica in Europa, dalla penisola iberica ai Balcani. Si riaffacciano oggi stereotipi islamofobi e processi di demonizzazione dei musulmani, anche a causa di una letteratura poco informata, portata avanti da seminatori d’odio”, ha accusato Redouane. “L’Occidente ha tante virtù, ma quando sento autori, intellettuali, giornalisti fare ‘l’elogio della paura‘, sconvolge proprio quello che in me è profondamente occidentale. Quello di cui non si ha mai abbastanza non è la paura, ma il coraggio, la capacità di controllare la paura”, ha aggiunto Cardini. “Ricorrono i dieci anni dalla strage del Bataclan. Da allora è cambiata la narrazione del Medio Oriente. Nel 2014 mi trovavo a Beirut e una notte si fecero saltare in aria due terroristi, ammazzando 60 persone. Nel 2013 in Siria era arrivato l’Isis, tutti ricordano le immagini dei giornalisti decapitati dagli uomini vestiti di nero. Queste uccisioni e la strage dei libanesi si parlano, nel senso che i libanesi accorrono in tv e dicono ai giornalisti ‘anche i nostri sono morti, dove sono i loro volti e i loro nomi?’. La risposta al terrore del Bataclan quanti morti ha fatto in Siria e in Iraq? I giornali scrivevano ‘bastardi islamici‘ e parlavano di ‘risposta giusta al terrorismo islamico’. Il terrorismo è stato usato per portare avanti le peggiori agende in Medio Oriente“, ha accusato Hamadi. E ancora: “Si è portato avanti un discorso culturale basato su slogan e su una macchina dell’odio, senza alcun argomento e senza conoscere nulla del contributo culturale dell’Islam”. “Io ho cercato di impegnarmi per sottolineare come la nostra cultura sia in realtà profondamente unitaria, dove gli elementi di somiglianza sono più forti di quelli di differenza”, ha ricordato Cardini. Così nel suo volume si ricorda: “L’Islam ci appartiene. Ha le nostre stesse profonde radici: la cultura ellenistico-mediterranea e il monoteismo abramitico; i suoi profeti sono i medesimi dell’ebraismo e del cristianesimo. La sua scienza e la sua filosofia, certo originali, restano impensabili senza le nostre. L’Islam è l’Occidente dell’Oriente. I fondamenti della sua cultura, radicati in quella ellenistica passata a Roma e a Bisanzio, sono arrivati alla nostra esattamente come le merci provenienti dall’Asia profonda giungevano in Europa. All’Islam, attraverso l’Asia Minore, il Delta Nilotico, l’Africa sahariana, il Maghreb e la penisola iberica, dobbiamo i fondamenti della nostra matematica, della nostra logica, della nostra astronomia, della nostra cartografia, della nostra geografia, della nostra fisica, della nostra medicina. Le nostre università medievali sono nate nell’XI-XII secolo come “studia” monastici e diocesani vivificati dall’esempio che proveniva loro dalle città musulmane, in molte delle quali esisteva una “bait al-Hikmah” dove s’imparava a pagamento: l’innovazione delle “universitates” medievali, corporazioni professionali dove la scienza si trasmette come una merce. Dante ci rammenta che Avicenna e Averroè sono padri del nostro sapere al pari di Platone e di Aristotele, d’Ippocrate e di Galeno. Il Saladino è il nostro grande eroe cavalleresco. E non ci sono guerre, non ci sono atrocità, non ci sono fanatismi che tengano”. L'articolo “Rigurgiti d’odio contro i musulmani. Ecco perché dobbiamo dire grazie all’Islam”, alla Moschea di Roma il libro di Franco Cardini proviene da Il Fatto Quotidiano.

BRUSSELS — Wednesday’s election in the Netherlands should surely go down as one of the best days Europe’s centrists have enjoyed in years. Geert Wilders, the far-right populist who touted leaving the EU on his way to a shock victory in the 2023 election, lost nearly a third of his voters after 11 chaotic months for his Party for Freedom (PVV) in coalition.  At the same time, the fervently pro-European liberal Rob Jetten surged in the final days of the campaign and stands a good chance of becoming prime minister. At 38, he would be the youngest person to hold the office since World War II and the first openly gay candidate ever to do so.  “Many in the Brussels bubble will welcome the rise of a mainstream, pro-governing and reform-oriented party,” said one EU diplomat, granted anonymity because the subject is politically sensitive. “The Dutch have a lot to contribute to the EU.” But even as they exhale with relief at the end of the Wilders interlude, the inhabitants of Europe’s dominant liberal center-ground — those Brussels officials, diplomats and ministers who run the EU show — would be well advised not to celebrate too hard. If previous years are any guide, the final shape of the next government and its policy plans will not become clear for months. Who knows what will have happened in Ukraine, the Middle East, or in Donald Trump’s trade war with China in that time? “It is essential for European cooperation that a new government is stable and able to make bold decisions, given the current geopolitical challenges that Europe is facing,” the same diplomat said. Even when the new coalition finally begins its work, this election should worry Europe’s liberal centrists almost as much as it delights them. JETTEN INTO EUROPE  Jetten’s Democracy 66 party has never done so well at a Dutch election: Assuming he gets the job he wants, he’ll be the party’s first prime minister. This week he told POLITICO he wanted to move the Netherlands closer to the EU.  Last night, officials in Brussels privately welcomed the prospect of the Dutch and their highly regarded diplomats returning to their historic place at the center of EU affairs, after two years in which they lost some influence. It was always going to be tough for the outgoing PM Dick Schoof, a 68-year-old technocrat, to follow the long-serving Mark Rutte, an EU star who now runs NATO. Domestic divisions made his job even harder.  But pro-European spirits also rose because the disruptive Wilders had wanted to keep the EU at arm’s length. Jetten’s position could hardly be more different. In fact, he sounds like an EU federalist’s dream.  “We want to stop saying ‘no’ by default, and start saying ‘yes’ to doing more together,” Jetten told POLITICO this week. “I cannot stress enough how dire Europe’s situation will be if we do not integrate further.”  STAYING DUTCH In Brussels, officials expect the next Dutch administration to maintain the same broad outlook on core policies: restraint on the EU’s long-term budget; cracking down on migration; boosting trade and competitiveness; and supporting Ukraine, alongside stronger common defense. One area where things could get complicated is climate policy. Jetten is committed to climate action and may end up in a power-sharing deal with GreenLeft-Labor, which was led at this election by former EU Green Deal chief Frans Timmermans.  How any government that Jetten leads balances climate action with improving economic growth will be key to policy discussions in Brussels. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has been trimming climate measures amid center-right complaints that they are expensive for consumers and businesses. But she wants to secure backing for new targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2040.  Elsewhere, housing and migration — two areas often linked by far-right politicians — were central issues in the Dutch campaign. Both will continue to feature on the EU’s agenda, too.  For many watching the results unfold in Brussels, the biggest concerns are practical: Will the next Dutch government be more stable than the last one? And how long will it take to for the coalition to form? Seven months passed between the last election in November 2023 and Schoof taking office as prime minister in July 2024. “This is a historic election result because we’ve shown not only to the Netherlands but also to the world that it’s possible to beat populist and extreme-right movements,” Jetten told his supporters. “I’m very eager to cooperate with other parties to start an ambitious coalition as soon as possible.”  WILDERS Beneath the rare good news of a pro-European triumph and a far-right failure lurk more worrying trends for EU centrists.  First of all, there’s the sheer volatility of the result. Most voters apparently made up their minds at the last moment.  Wilders went from winning the popular vote and taking 37 of the 150 seats in the Dutch lower house in 2023 to a projected 26 seats this time. Jetten’s D66 party, meanwhile, went from just nine seats two years ago to a projected 26, according to a preliminary forecast by the Dutch news agency ANP. The center-right Christian Democratic Appeal took just five seats in 2023 but now stands to win 18, according to the forecast. With swings this wild, anything could happen next time. Most major parties say they won’t work with Wilders in coalition now, making Jetten the more likely new PM if the projections hold. But Wilders says he is a long way from finished. “You won’t be rid of me until I’m 80,” the 62 year-old told supporters. In fact, Wilders might find a period in opposition — free from the constraints and compromises required in government — the perfect place to resume his inflammatory campaigns against Islam, immigration and the EU.  Donald Trump, Marine Le Pen and Nigel Farage had all been written off before storming back into their respective political front lines. “We had hoped for a different outcome, but we stood our ground,” Wilders wrote on X. “We are more determined than ever.”  TIMM’S UP  The other cloud on the pro-European horizon is the fate of Timmermans.  His center-left ticket was expected to do well and had been polling second behind Wilders’ Freedom Party in the months before the vote. But per the preliminary forecast, GreenLeft-Labor will fall from 25 seats to 20. Timmermans — who also stood in 2023 — resigned as leader.  It wasn’t just a defeat for the party, but also in some ways for Brussels. Timmermans had served as the European Commission’s executive vice president during von der Leyen’s first term, and was seen by some, especially his opponents, as a creation of the EU bubble.  Others point to the fact the center-left is struggling across Europe.  “It’s clear that I, for whatever reason, couldn’t convince people to vote for us,” Timmermans said. “It’s time that I take a step back and transfer the lead of our movement to the next generation.” Jetten’s pro-Europeanism could also come back to haunt him by the time of the next election. If he fails to deliver miracles to back up his optimistic pitch to voters, his Euroskeptic opponents have a ready-made argument for what went wrong. Recent history in the Netherlands, and elsewhere, suggests they won’t be afraid to use it.  Eva Hartog, Hanne Cokelaere, Pieter Haeck and Max Griera contributed reporting.

Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders has restarted his parliamentary election campaign after briefly suspending it following security threats. “After all these years, I no longer know the feeling of personal freedom. The impact of all that on yourself and your family is often difficult to explain to people who haven’t experienced it themselves,” Wilders, who has lived under armed protection for decades, wrote Wednesday in a post on social media. “But now elections are coming up, it’s campaign time and I feel a great responsibility for the Netherlands and all PVV voters,” he added, announcing several upcoming debates he plans to attend.  Wilders is the leader of the far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) and is a longtime critic of Islam and immigration. He has received several death threats in the past — including, he says, from the Taliban, al Qaeda and the Islamic State. He paused his campaign last week after reports that he — along with Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever and other politicians — was targeted by a suspected Islamist terror cell in a foiled attack.  Wilders’ PVV is currently leading the race according to POLITICO’s Poll of Polls ahead of the Oct. 29 parliamentary elections. The PVV came out on top in the last Dutch election in November 2023 and joined the governing coalition, but Wilders and his party pulled out in June over disagreements on migration policy.

Italy’s ruling Brothers of Italy party has introduced legislation seeking to ban the burqa and niqab face and body coverings in all public spaces nationwide, calling it a bill against “Islamic separatism.” “Religious freedom is sacred, but it must be exercised in the open, in full respect of our constitution and the principles of the Italian state,” said lawmaker Andrea Delmastro, one of the initiators of the bill, in a Facebook post on Wednesday. The burqa is a full-body garment covering a woman from head to toe, and includes a mesh screen over the eyes. A niqab leaves the area around the eyes clear. The ban would prohibit the wearing of garments covering the face in all public spaces, including shops, schools and offices. Those who violate the ban would face a fine of €300 to €3,000. The proposal is part of a broader bill intended to address what the right-wing party of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has described as “cultural separatism” associated with Islam. “It is a bill that will essentially deal with regulating the funding of mosques, and with preventing and banning the use of the full-face veil. It also emphasizes the legislation against forced marriages. In Italy, we apply our laws which are based on a specific set of values,” said Sara Kelany, head of immigration for Brothers of Italy, during Wednesday’s press conference. The proposed bill includes increased penalties for forced marriages and requirements that religious groups not formally recognized by the state disclose any foreign funding, with financing restricted to those that don’t pose a threat to state security. Delmastro said Italy had drawn inspiration from France, the first European country to introduce a full burqa ban in 2011. Since then, Belgium, Denmark, Switzerland and several other countries in Europe and around the world have imposed full or partial bans. Those who violate the ban would face a fine of €300 to €3,000. | Lorenzo Carmellini/Getty Images “We have taken inspiration for this law from staunchly secular France, with the deep conviction that no foreign funding should ever undermine our sovereignty or our civilization,” said Delmastro. Italy already has a law, dating back to 1975, that prohibits complete face covering in public places, though it does not specifically mention burqas. The Union of Islamic Communities of Italy, one of Italy’s main Islamic organizations, could not be reached for comment.

An EU lawmaker is campaigning to ban the use of the hijab and other Islamic headscarves by people who work for the legislature, according to an email circulated among all members of the European Parliament on Tuesday. Charlie Weimers, head of the Sweden Democrats delegation within the European Conservatives and Reformists group, asked his colleagues to sign a petition to ban wearing “the hijab, niqab, or other Islamic headscarves by civil servants employed by EU institutions, as well as by external service providers contracted to work on EU premises.” Once the signatures are gathered he will send the request to European Parliament President Roberta Metsola by the end of the day on Friday, Oct. 3, according to the email. “The hijab ban would reinforce the impartiality, equality and universality of public service within the Union, send a strong signal of support to empower all females currently living under Islamic oppression and ensure that the European Parliament serves as a neutral example for member states, civil society and other international organisations,” reads the letter, obtained by POLITICO.  “From a practical perspective, garments covering the head and neck complicate security screening and identification, adding operational risks that are absent when smaller religious symbols are worn discreetly,” the letter says.  Other lawmakers are less than impressed with the idea. “This proposal is nothing more than an Islamophobic distraction,” said Martin Schirdewan, co-chair of The Left. “Instead of tackling the real challenges facing Europeans: rising inequality, climate breakdown, housing insecurity, and the erosion of workers’ rights, far-right politicians are targeting Muslim women’s clothing to stoke fear and division.” Hana Jalloul Muro, an MEP for the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, said she was “shocked” by the proposal, criticizing the letter for “attacking women workers, filled with hatred, sexism, and Islamophobia. “It is a shame to witness an assault on freedom of religion, a universal right, within the European institutions,” she added. “We are here to set an example — this is definitely not the Europe of values.” The Sweden Democrats have made a practice of campaigning against Islam back home, and have previously called for a ban on new mosques in the country and for existing ones to be demolished. Once the signatures are gathered the MEP will send the request to European Parliament President Roberta Metsola by the end of the day on Friday, Oct. 3, according to the email. | Sebastien Bozon/Getty Images EU countries such as France, the Netherlands and Austria have previously enforced bans on face-covering garments in public buildings. But banning the hijab, which covers the head but not the face, remains controversial in many countries. “This is an individual initiative for now, but I expect broad support,” Weimers told POLITICO when asked whether his ECR group supports his proposal. Metsola’s spokesperson and a spokesperson for the European Parliament declined to comment. A spokesperson for the ECR group wasn’t immediately available for comment.

BELGRADE — Serbia has arrested 11 of its citizens on suspicion of high-profile hate crimes in Berlin and Paris — involving pigs’ heads and green paint — that were widely viewed as seeking to stir up tensions between religious groups in Western capitals over the war in Gaza. The Serbian interior ministry said the main organizer of the group with the initials M.G. was still on the run and had acted on the “instructions of a foreign intelligence service.” Since Stars of David were painted across Paris in 2023, French authorities have told the media that they have been seeking to stop Russian attempts to sow instability. The Serbian interior ministry gave no indication of which “foreign intelligence service” was involved in the more recent offences. The Serbian ministry said the 11 detainees were part of a group of 14 and that their activities between April and September 2025 had included “throwing green paint on the Holocaust [memorial in Paris], several synagogues and a Jewish restaurant.” The individuals also placed “pigs’ heads near Muslim religious buildings, all in the Paris area, as well as in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin,” the statement continued. The ministry added the group had “aimed to spread ideas that advocate and incite hatred, discrimination and violence” based on “differences in race, skin color, religious affiliation, nationality and ethnic origin.” The suspects are being held in Smederevo, a city close to the capital Belgrade, as they await questioning within the next 48 hours. The government, led by the Serbian Progressive Party, maintains a strong relationship with the Kremlin. It recently promoted a report by the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) that claimed the EU is fomenting a “color revolution” in Serbia by supporting months-long anti-government protests. Serbia did not join the EU’s sanctions on Russia following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and operates regular flights to St. Petersburg and Moscow.

On Wednesday evening, Emily Cleary, a 47-year-old journalist and public relations consultant from Buckinghamshire in the U.K., was sitting watching TV with her 12-year-old son when she got a BBC alert that Charlie Kirk had been shot. She’d never heard of him, but she soon gathered from the coverage that he was associated with President Donald Trump. “You might have seen him, Mummy,” her son insisted. “He’s the man on TikTok with the round face who shouts all the time.” He began filling her in on a long, detailed list of Kirk’s views. “He thinks that if a 10-year-old gets pregnant she should be forced to keep it,” he explained. In the U.S., Kirk was a well-known figure on both sides of the political spectrum thanks to his proximity to the Trump family and profiles in outlets such as POLITICO Magazine and The New York Times Magazine. On the other side of the Atlantic, a schism appeared this week between those perplexed at why Prime Minister Keir Starmer was making statements about a seemingly obscure American podcaster, and those who already viewed him as a celebrity. Debates about the activist’s legacy sprung up in online spaces not usually known for politics, such as Facebook groups intended for sharing Love Island memes or soccer fan communities on X, with some people saying they will “miss his straight talking.” Parents of teens were surprised to find themselves being educated by their children on an issue of apparent international political importance. To some, this was all the more bewildering given the U.K. offshoot of Kirk’s Turning Point was widely mocked as a huge failure when it tried launching at British universities. But Emily’s son learned about Kirk somewhere else: TikTok’s “for you” page. “He hadn’t just seen a few videos, he was very knowledgeable about everything he believed,” she said, adding that her son “didn’t agree with Kirk but thought he seemed like a nice guy.” “It really unnerved me that he knew more about this person’s ideas than I did.” Kirk first rose to prominence in the U.S. when he cofounded Turning Point USA in 2012. It aimed to challenge what it saw as the dominance of liberal culture on American campuses, establishing a network of conservative activists at schools across the country. Kirk built Turning Point into a massive grassroots operation that has chapters on more than 800 campuses, and some journalists have attributed Trump’s 2024 reelection in part to the group’s voter outreach in Arizona and Wisconsin. But across the pond, Turning Point UK stumbled. Formed in 2019, it initially drew praise from figures on the right of the U.K.’s then-ruling Conservative party, such as former member of parliament Jacob Rees-Mogg and current shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel. However, the official launch on Feb. 1 of that year quickly descended into farce: Its X account was unverified, leading student activists from around the country to set up hundreds of satirical accounts. Media post-mortems concluded the organization failed to capture the mood of U.K. politics. The British hard right tends to fall into two categories: the aristocratic eccentricity of Rees-Mogg, or rough-and-ready street-based movements led by figures such as former soccer hooligan (and Elon Musk favorite) Tommy Robinson. Turning Point USA — known for its highly-produced events full of strobe lights, pyrotechnics and thundering music — was too earnest, too flashy, too American. And although U.K. universities tend to be left-leaning, Kirk’s claim that colleges are “islands of totalitarianism” that curtail free speech didn’t seem to resonate with U.K. students like it did with some in the U.S. “For those interested in opposing group think or campus censorship, organisations and publications already exist [such as] the magazine Spiked Online,” journalist Benedict Spence wrote at the time, adding that “if conservatives are to win round young voters of the future, they will have to do so by policy.” Turning Point UK distanced itself from its previous leadership and mostly moved away from campuses, attempting to reinvent itself as a street-based group. However, five years later in early 2024, Kirk launched his TikTok account and quickly achieved a new level of viral fame on both sides of the Atlantic. Clips of his “Debate Me” events, in which he took on primarily liberal students’ arguments on college campuses, exploded on the platform. This also coincided with a shift in the landscape of the British right toward Kirk’s provocative and extremely online style of politics. Discontent had been swelling around the country as the economic damage of Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic began to bite, and far-right movements distrustful of politicians and legacy media gained traction online. While some of Kirk’s favorite topics — such as his staunch opposition to abortion and support of gun rights — have never resonated with Brits, others have converged. Transgender rights moved from a fringe issue to a mainstream talking point, while debates over immigration became so tense they erupted in a series of far-right race riots in August 2024, largely organized and driven by social media. In this political and digital environment, inflammatory culture-war rhetoric found new purchase — and Kirk was a bona fide culture warrior. He called for “a Nuremberg-style trial for every gender-affirming clinic doctor,” posted on X last week that “Islam is the sword the left is using to slit the throat of America” and regularly promoted the racist “great replacement” conspiracy theory, which asserts that elites are engaged in a plot to diminish the voting and cultural power of white Americans via immigration policy. “The American Democrat Party hates this country. They want to see it collapse. They love it when America becomes less white,” he said on his podcast in 2024. Harry Phillips, a 26-year-old truck driver from Kent, just south of London, began turning to influencers for his news during the pandemic, saying he didn’t trust mainstream outlets to truthfully report information such as the Covid-19 death toll. He first came across Kirk’s TikTok videos in the run-up to the 2024 U.S. presidential election. “I really liked that he was willing to have his beliefs challenged, and that he didn’t do it in an aggressive manner,” he said. “I don’t agree with everything, such as his views on abortion. But I do agree with his stance that there are only two genders, and that gender ideology is being pushed on kids at school.” Through Kirk, Phillips said he discovered other U.S. figures such as far-right influencer Candace Owens and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, whom he now follows on X, as well as more liberal debaters such as TikToker Dean Withers. “America’s such a powerful country, I think we should all keep an eye on what happens there because it can have a knock-on effect here,” he said. University students in the U.K. may not have been concerned about free speech in 2019, but Phillips definitely is. “I believe we’re being very censored by our government in the U.K.,” he said, citing concerns over the numbers of people reportedly arrested for social media posts. He also said Kirk was not just popular with other people his age, but older members of his family too — all of whom are distraught over his death. In May 2025, six years after the original Turning Point U.K. failed to take off, Kirk found his way back to U.K. campuses via the debate societies of elite universities like Oxford and Cambridge. He wasn’t the first far-right provocateur to visit these clubs, which have existed since the 19th century — conservative media mogul Ben Shapiro took part in a Cambridge debate in November 2023. Oxford Union’s most recent president, Anita Okunde, told British GQ these events were an attempt to make the societies, which were widely considered stuffy and stuck-up, “culturally relevant to young people.” Kirk’s hour-long video, “Charlie Kirk vs 400 Cambridge Students and a Professor,” has 2.1 million views on YouTube and has spawned multiple shorter clips, disseminated by his media machine across multiple platforms. Clips from the same debates also exist within a parallel left-wing ecosystem, re-branded with titles such as “Feminist Cambridge Student OBLITERATES Charlie Kirk.” Although Kirk has been lauded in some sections of the media for being open to debate, these videos don’t appear designed to change anyone’s opinion. Both sides have their views reinforced, taking whatever message they prefer to hear. Karen, a British mother in her late 50s who lives on a farm outside the city of Nottingham, said clips of Kirk getting “owned” by progressives are extremely popular with her 17-year-old daughter and her friends. “I had no idea who he was until she reminded me she had shown me some videos before,” said Karen, whose surname POLITICO Magazine is withholding to protect her daughter’s identity from online harassment. “I think he’s a bit too American for them,” she said. “He’s too in-your-face, and they think some of his opinions are just rage-baiting.” The U.K. political landscape is currently in turmoil, with Farage’s Reform U.K. leading the polls at 31 percent while Starmer’s center-left Labour lags behind at 21 percent. Given the unrest at home, it may seem unusual that so many people are heavily engaged with events thousands of miles away in Washington. Social media algorithms play a role pushing content, as do Farage and Robinson’s close relationships with figures such as Trump, Musk and Vice President JD Vance. In any case, young people in the U.K. are as clued into American politics as ever. Cleary’s 12-year-old son’s description of Kirk wasn’t the first time he surprised her with his knowledge of U.S. politics, either: He recently filled her in on Florida’s decision to end vaccine mandates for schoolchildren. “I’m happy that he is inquisitive and he definitely questions things,” she said. However, she wonders if this consumption of politics via social media will shape the way he and his peers view the world for the rest of their lives. “He even says to me, ‘No one my age will ever vote Labour because they’re no good at TikTok,’” she said. “And he says he doesn’t like Reform, but that they made really good social media videos.”