MEMRI has reported that in recent TV interviews, Egyptian cleric Wagdi Ghneim ((aka Wagdi Ghoneim, Wagdy Mohamed Ghoneim, Wagdi Ghuniem) praised Jihad and denigrated women. According to the MEMRI report:
In two recent TV interviews, Egyptian cleric Wagdi Ghneim extolled Jihad, saying: “We are a nation that excels in the production of the art of death… I will die anyway, so I should be creative to make sure my death is for the sake of Allah.” Later, he said: “Brothers, we pray to Allah that we be terrorists, if terror means Jihad for the sake of Allah.” He also weighed in on the issue of women’s equality, saying: “Anything you women can do, I can do better, because I am a man…” except for four things, which “even the manliest man cannot do”: pregnancy and childbirth, raising and serving the children, nurturing the husband, and taking care of the home. The two interviews aired on the Hamas Al-Aqsa TV channel on February 4 and 14, 2010.
Mr. Ghoneim is an Egyptian cleric who in January 2005 agreed to be voluntarily deported from the U.S. based upon Department of Homeland Security concerns that his past speeches and participation in fund-raising activities could be supportive of terrorist organizations. Following deportations from Bahrain and South Africa, he appears to have settled in Qatar where MEMRI reported on remarks by Mr. Ghoneim which aired on Al-Jazeera TV and which praised violent Jihad and criticized the U.S. and Europe as “Godless” nations. Ghoneim is closely tied to the global Muslim Brotherhood and has been a frequent speaker or invited speaker at Brotherhood events including those sponsored by the Union of Islamic Organizations in Italy (UCOII), the Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland (ICCI), and the League of Swiss Muslims. Known for his anti-semitic speeches, global media have also reported that he is closely associated with Hamas. Ghoneim was recently identified as one of sixteen individuals on a Home office list of people banned from the U.K. on the basis of ” unacceptable behaviour by seeking to foment, justify or glorify terrorist violence in furtherance of particular beliefs and to provoke others to commit terrorist acts. In July, the Egyptian newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm reported that Mr. Ghoneim was added by Egyptian authorities to a list of 90 leaders of the “International Organization of the Muslim Brotherhood”
To view this clip on MEMRI TV, go here.