CALEM    Refuge

Our team, in conjunction with our partners from sister associations of the AOZIZ network, are looking for premises to expand our accommodation capacities and inclusive activities in Marseille:

"The Auberge AOZIZ will be an inclusive, intergenerational and intercultural reception center, open to the surrounding neighborhood, to all of Marseille, managed by and for vulnerable people, looking for integration and civic engagement to live together. This center will include a “reception” section for RML (Refuge Migration LGBT+) meetings and other associations of this type, sharing of convivial meals, collegial decision-making, welcoming the public; welcoming in priority most vulnerable individuals, in demand of a safe place to socialize in complete safety".

At the refuge of the CALEM institute, we still host ten to twelve precarious individuals, or asylum seekers, from our communities.

Help us to help them,
thanks for your donations online here

In January 2021, Moussa Fone Fofana as president, Souleymane Traoré as treasurer and Henry Ansaldi as secretary, founded the association RML (Refuge Migration LGBT +), after two years of continuous field activities:

Article I

The association "Refuge Migrant-es LGBTQI +" has the acronym RML. Each component of the association's name may be used jointly or independently depending on the activities developed by the association.

Article II

The purpose and services provided by RML are as follows: information about the rights of LGBTQI + migrants; training in administrative rules and laws of the French Republic; linking with the solidarity network of Marseille and its region for basic needs (food, housing, work, health); support for the long-term integration of LGBT + migrants who will have obtained their refugee status.

RML's main areas of intervention are: equality, secularism, solidarity & integration.

CALEM    Institute

For the month of Ramadan 2021, which again this year coincides with IDAHOT (World Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia), we are offering inclusive, open to all, spiritual and active
meetings in Marseille *:

From Tuesday May 11 to Saturday May 15 included,
a summary program:

1 / Cinema debate - world day against LGBT phobias, intersectional activity crossed with the issue of institutional racism and Islamophobia

2 / Reiki workshops - a treatment method of Japanese origin, based on so-called "energy" treatments by laying on of hands

3 / AOZIZ meetings - our local partners of the inclusion centers in Marseille

4 / The Calanques - walks and informal discussions in the heart of the protected regional park 

5 / Eid 2021 - festive and friendly celebration of the end of Ramadan on Saturday May 15

* as many activities as possible will be organized outdoors, in the garden of the CALEM institute or in the countryside of Marseille (Covid-19)

This year again (September 2020 to May 2021) the CALEM Institute has made its training courses available, based on renowned scientific research, in particular for progressive imams in France,
Europe and beyond:

Now in France, after having been the founder of the first inclusive mosque in Europe, we have two progressive and inclusive Islamic structures (in Paris and Marseille), members of our international movement.

Note that to date half a dozen future students have already passed the first level of our certification this year, which began online last September. Two of them, one from France the other from Germany, will finalize inch'Allah next May the second level of their training.

All our publications online here

The depth, social and cultural diversity of the Islamic message and community are a source of pride for Muslims. In this wealth, violence must not have space, because it damages individuals and blurs the integrity of its community.

Individual experiences, poor links with local community, low level of knowledge about Islam and religious politization generate social grievances.

The main victims of this phenomenon and its consequences are young people, especially second generations. They often experience identity problems because find it difficult to make their European origins and Islamic belief coop.

However, being a European Muslim is possible and is today one of the numerous ways to belong to one of the widest and most fascinating communities of the world.

Online activism, institutional engagement and the commitment of non-profit organizations can do a lot in this framework. We invite all Muslims to participate in the positive destiny for our community, sharing and spreading its good values and stories.

Our community seeks action and this action is to stay on the right side. Stay with us, to demonstrate to the world, but above all to ourselves, the positive values of the Muslim community and to condemn violence.

The problem of Islamic radicalization of society is shared among all EU Member States and is mining both security, democratic values, and human rights. In this framework, OPEN intends to counter this phenomenon in a strategic bottom-up integrated approach by weakening the foundations of the enrolment process, i.e. Increasing resiliency of those at risk of radicalization and questioning certainties among radicalized youth.

The project aims to fight against the online radicalization process in the cities of Rome, Nice, Strasbourg, Berlin, and Elche (and related regions), through an online communication campaign that leverages the root and credibility of CSOs and the know-how of an institutional communication agency.

In this framework, OPEN aims to reach the following specific objects:

• To improve the critical capacity of Muslim youth at risk of radicalization against Islamic extremist online propaganda
• To stimulate a cognitive opening between young radical Muslims
• To increase the skills of civil society organizations and grassroots movements linked to the Muslim youth network and encourage them to use the OPEN model as a daily online activity
• To sensitize the institutions on the main characteristics of youth radicalization in the regions of reference and on the power of online activism.

Read more about our campaign

CALEM    Cabinet

We have been honored again this year, most often online, to facilitate the blessing of couples, in France and elsewhere. Learn more here