US media is reporting that Kuwaiti Muslim Brotherhood leader Tariq Suwaidan has been banned from attending a Brussels Muslim fair scheduled for this weekend. According to the GlobalPost report, the ban on Suwaidan was based on his history of anti-Semitism:
Tariq Suwaidan
November 4, 2014 Belgium on Tuesday banned a Kuwaiti Muslim preacher from attending an event in Brussels, accusing him of making anti-Semitic remarks and being a threat to public order.
Tareq Al-Suwaidan, described as a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Gulf state, was due to speak at the Brussels Muslim Fair this weekend.
But Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon ordered officials to ‘take the necessary steps to forbid Tareq Al-Suwaidan access to the area or to stay in it’, his office said in a statement.
‘It was the only decision possible,’ Jambon and Prime Minister Charles Michel said in the statement.
‘This preacher has unacceptable anti-Semitic beliefs and his presence here is a threat to public order.’
The ban relates to comments allegedly made by Al-Suwaidan in July during the devastating 50-day war on Gaza militants, which claimed 2,140 Palestinian lives and 73 on the Israeli side, most of them from the army.
On his Facebook page, which has six million ‘likes’, the preacher urged Muslim mothers to ‘suckle their babies on the hatred of the Sons of Zion’, Belgian media reports said.
Al-Suwaidan later denied anti-Semitism.”
Read the rest here.
The GMBDW reported last month that Suwaidan had been invited to be a speaker at a the Brussels fair.
Tariq Suwaidan is one of the most important leaders of the Kuwait Brotherhood as well as the former General Manager of Al-Resalah Satellite TV, the brainchild of Saudi businessman Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal. In May 2007, Suwaidan was listed by federal prosecutors in a group of U.S Muslim Brotherhood members named as part of a large group of Unindicted Co-Conspirators in the terrorism financing case against the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, convicted of providing funds for Hamas. Suwaidan is also the author of the anti-Semitic “Encyclopedia of Jews.” GMBDW coverage of Suwaidan has included:
We reported in July 2014 that Suwaidan had given an address in which he urged that Muslims develop a plan “to wipe out Israel” and that all Muslim mothers “should suckle their babies on the hatred of the sons of Zion.”
We reported in October 2013 that Suwaidan had been barred from entering Saudi Arabia where he planned to go on Umrah (lesser pilgrimage).
In August 2013, we reported that Suwaidan had been removed as head of the Al-Resalah TV channel by Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal as a result of his role in the Muslim Brotherhood.
In April 2012, we reported that Suwaidan gave a TV interview in which he made various anti-Semitic comments and said that the most dangerous thing facing Muslims is not dictatorships but Jews whom he calls “the greatest enemy.”
In January 2009, we reported on the struggle for control over Suwaidan’s Wikipedia page and the issue of whether or not he was part of the Muslim Brotherhood in Kuwait.
MEMRI has published a profile of Suwaidan detailing some of his extremist views.
