A Union of Good website is reporting on plans for the 11th Palestinians in Europe conference to held in Brussels in May and which will feature as always a group of conference speakers tied to the Global Muslim Brotherhood and/or Hamas. According to the report:
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Humanityvoice – 2013-04-25 Arrangements for the 11th Palestinians in Europe conference are running smoothly and more guests have been confirmed.
The 11th Conference, organized by the General Secretariat of the Palestinians in Europe Conference, The Palestinian Return Centre (PRC), will be held in Brussels, Belgium on Saturday 18th May 2013.
The one-day conference will discuss a number of key issues related to the Palestinian people and their quest of liberation, including primary concerns like Israeli occupation, Jerusalem, refugees, prisoners, borders, statehood and others.
Thousands Palestinians, including representatives from other Arab/Muslim and European communities are expected to take part at the event.
Palestinian speakers will be joined by other high profile individuals from the Middle East, Europe and from across the world.
They will speak at the event and during its many sessions. Key figures will take part in the event such as Sheikh Rashid al Ghanoushi leader of al Nahda movement in Tunisia, President of Al Sharq Forum Wadah Khanfar, Palestinian Member of Parliament Gamal El Khoudary, Dr. Salman Abu Sitta chair of Palestine Land Foundation, Palestinian/American Journalist and Editor of Al Mizan magazine Osama Abu Rshaid and Mr. Kathem Ayash chair of the Jordanian association to defend the right of return.
Additionally, a number of freed Palestinian prisoners like Mahmoud al Sirsik, Salih Al Hamouri and Ayman al Sharwna will also be attending and delivering a message on behalf of the prisoners.
A number of parallel events have also been planned including a film festival. Productions that will be displayed include the Nakba, Jersualem, settlements, Gaza siege and refugees.
The choice of Brussels for a conference venue is significant given the announced desire of Hamas to get itself removed from the EU terror list, discussed in an earlier post.
The scheduled conference speakers all have extensive ties to the Global Muslim Brotherhood and/or Hamas:
The most prominent of the speakers is Sheikh Rashid al Ghanoushi (Rachid Ghannouchi) who is head of the Tunisian Ennahda Party, essentially the Muslim Brotherhood in Tunisia. Mr. Ghannouchi is an important leader in the Global Muslim Brotherhood who is closely associated with Youssef Qaradawi and Ghannouchi has a long history of association with Palestinian extremism and calls for terrorism.
Wadah Khanfar is the former General-Manager of Al-Jazeera whose background suggests that he is tied to the Global Muslim Brotherhood and/or Hamas. Mr. Khanfar resigned from Al-Jazeera in September 2011and he is now the President of the Al Sharq Forum which describes itself as “an independent international network whose mission is to develop long-term strategies to ensure the political development, social justice and economic prosperity of the people of Al-Sharq.”
Gamal El Khoudary (Jamal Koudary), although sometimes described as an “independent” Palestinian MP is actually the chairman of the board of the Islamic University, an important center for Hamas as well as the leader of Gaza’s Popular Committee Against the Siege, also close to Hamas.
Abu Sitta is one of the founders of the Palestinian Return Center whose ties to Hamas and the Global Muslim Brotherhood are detailed below.
Osama Abu Rshaid (aka Osamah Abuirshaid) is a member of the board of the American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), described by the Anti-Defamation League as “the leading organization providing anti-Zionist training and education to students and Muslim community organizations in the country” and which “promotes extreme anti-Israel views and has at times provided a platform for anti-Semitism under the guise of educating Americans about ‘the just cause of Palestine and the rights of self-determination.” The Investigative Project has detailed the ties between AMP and Hamas.
Kathem Ayash is a member of Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood Shura Council, the highest governing body of the group.
Past Palestinians in Europe conferences have featured other leaders of the Global Muslim Brotherhood and/or Hamas such as the 2011 conference held in Wuppertal, Germany that included Amin About Rashed, identified by the Global Muslim Brotherhood Daily Report as an organizer of the Gaza Flotilla and a Hamas/Muslim Brotherhood leader in the Netherlands, and Shakib Mahklouf, the leader of the Federation of Islamic Organizations In Europe (FIOE) representing the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe. The 2010 conference was scheduled to feature Hamas legislator Aziz Al Duwaik and the 2009 conference was addressed via video link by Gaza Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. The 2008 Conference featured former US. Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammad Akram Al-Adlouni, and Raed Salah, a leader of the Islamic Movement in Israel and close to Hamas. Nihad Awad of the U.S. Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) was also invited to speak.
The Palestinian Return Centre (PRC), essentially the sponsor of the conference, has many ties to the Global Muslim Brotherhood/Hamas. Current and past PRC directors have also been directors of the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB), a part of the U.K. Muslim Brotherhood. The PRC is also as an affiliate of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) which frequently acts in concert with U.K. Muslim Brotherhood groups and PRC activities are often promoted by the MAB, MCB, and other U.K. Brotherhood organizations. PRC director Ghassan Four is also a Trustee of INTERPAL, a key member of the Union of Good, a coalition of charities headed by Global Muslim Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi and which helps to raise funds for Hamas. Arafat Madi (aka Arafat Madi Shoukri), identified in the past as the Executive Director of the PRC, is also the chairman of the European Campaign to End the Siege of Gaza (ECESG), one of the main sponsors of the Gaza flotilla movement and also tied to the Global Muslim Brotherhood. PRC director Zaher Birawi is a Trustee of Education Aid for Palestine (EAP), also a part of the Union of Good. Mr. Birawi has also been the head of programming for Al-Hiwar TV which frequently features MB/Hamas individuals and organizations and was founded by Azzam Al-Tamimi, a U.K Muslim Brotherhood leader and close to Hamas. An Israeli web site, known to be close to Israeli military intelligence, has reported that Mr. Birawi, along with another PRC Trustee are “past Hamas operatives who found refuge in Britain in the early nineties.” In December 2010, the israeli government declared the PRC to be an illegal organization stating “the Center functions as Hamas’s organizational branch in Europe and its members are senior Hamas leaders who promote the movement’s agenda in Europe, and directly interact with various Hamas leaders, particularly from Damascus.
