In late June, the Federation of Muslim Youth and Student Organizations (FEMYSO) announced the results of its election for the organization’s Executive Committee. According to the announcement:
On 22nd of June 2013, FEMYSO opened its 17th General Assembly under the theme ‘Strategies for Muslim organisations in the face of economic recession and ongoing right wing extremism’ with representation from its 33 member organisations. During this weekend the General Assembly also voted in a new Executive committee for the next two year mandate, 2013-2015.
The results of the elections for the new Executive Committee have been announced as follows;
The elected candidates are (in alphabetic order):
- Hajar Al Kaddo
- Kaoula Channoufi
- Kevser Erol
- Khaled Ghrissi
- Youssef Himmat
- Abdel Rahman Mussa
- Berat Limani
- Anas Saghrouni
- Osama Youssfi
As President, the General Assembly elected Intissar Kherigi for the 2013-2015 mandate.
The outgoing executive committee would like to congratulate the new team and wish them all the best and success for the coming two years.
Two members of the new FEMYSO leadership are either children or close relatives of important European Muslim Brotherhood leaders. Hajar al-Kaddo is no doubt related to Noah Al-Kaddo, the Executive Director of the Islamic Cultural Center of Ireland (ICCI) which in turn is center of Muslim Brotherhood activity in that country. He is also an officer of the Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe (FIOE), the umbrella organization for the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe. Ms. Kaddo has also been an active leader in the Irish branch of the Federation of Student Islamic Societies (FOSIS), an umbrella grouping of most major university Islamic societies in the U.K. and Ireland and which has a long history of hosting extremist speakers.
Youssef Himmat is likely a relative of Ghaleb Ali Himmat, an important figure in the founding of the German Muslim Brotherhood and the longtime business partner of Muslim Brotherhood leader Youssef Nada. Both Himmat and Nada were founders and majority shareholders of the notorious Al-Taqwa Bank, formerly located “offshore” in the Bahamas. Numerous Muslim Brotherhood luminaries held shares in the bank, including the bank’s Sharia supervisor Global Muslim Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi and his family, which was supposed to conduct business in accord with Islamic principles. The bank was closed in 2000 after what Nada said were unforeseen developments related to the Asian financial crisis and a run on the bank caused by unfavorable publicity generated by accusations that the bank was funding Hamas. No documentation of the bank’s activities has ever been produced and Nada has refused to hand over the bank records which he said were moved to Saudi Arabia. Nada has claimed to be the acting “foreign minister” for the Muslim Brotherhood. In 2010, the UN dropped anti-terrorist sanctions against Mr. Nada and other sanctions and restrictions Mr. Nada and Mr. Himmat by Switzerland were also removed. Both men, along with the Al Taqwa Bank and related businesses, remain designated as terrorist entities by the US government.
A NEFA Foundation report identifies FEMYSO as the youth/student arm of the Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe (FIOE), representing the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe. Over the years, FEMYSO has developed a relationship with both the Council of Europe and the European Commission where it has been invited since 2003 to attend meetings of the Group of Policy Advisers (GOPA). One of the important leaders of FEMYSO over the years has been Ibrahim El-Zayat, the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in Germany. Michael Privot, a Belgian convert and former youth leader in FIOE who in 2008 had openly acknowledged being part of the Muslim Brotherhood, has written in his blog that he has “put an end to all my links and ties with the European Muslim Brotherhood.”
(Disclosure: US Muslim Brotherhood report authored by GMBDW editor)