A likely relative of Rachid Ghannoushi, leader in-exile of the Tunisian Islamist movement known as Nahada (aka Ennahda, Al Nahda) and often associated with the Muslim Brotherhood, has published an opinion piece in a U.K newspaper complaining about far-right political groups in Europe. Soumaya Ghannoushi, director of research at IslamExpo, wrote last month:
In a few days time a cluster of far-right groups under the name the Stop the Islamisation of Europe alliance will hold rallies in London, Copenhagen and Marseilles to demand an end to what they call “the overt and covert expansion of Islam in Europe”. Although the events are likely to attract no more than a handful of protesters, their message resonates widely. On Saturday the rightwing People’s party, notorious for its virulent hostility to ethnic minorities and Muslims, emerged as the victor in the Swiss elections, taking 29% of the vote, the best electoral performance by a party in the country’s elections since 1919.
It is probable that Soumaya Ghannoushi is a relative of Rachid who lives in London and can best be described as an independent Islamist power center who is tied to the global Muslim Brotherhood in one example by his membership in the European Council for Fatwa and Research led by Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi. Soumaya Ghannoushi’s complains about far-right involvement in the European anti-Islamist movement are validated in another post which discussed another European conference attended by individuals with ties to far-right political parties.