A group of organizations including elements of the U.K. Muslim Brotherhood and Western supporters of the Brotherhood are presenting a seminar titled ‘Understanding Political Islam’ to be held at the upcoming Islam Expo event in London. The seminar is organized by the British Muslim Initiative, a part of the U.K Brotherhood, and supported by the Al Jazeera Centre for Studies, Conflicts Forum, Demos, Forward Thinking and The Cordoba Foundation. A BMI announcement describes the seminar as follows:
Few topics seem to attract more interest than political Islam today. As recognized or unrecognized oppositions, parties in coalition governments or fully in power, or active players in civil society, Islamists have risen to prominence in the last two decades across much of the Muslim world. Today, Islamism is an undeniable fact of the political and cultural life of most Muslim countries in Asia and Africa, and even among Muslim minorities in Europe and the United States. The ‘Understanding Political Islam’ seminar will bring together a unique selection of the world’s leading experts on Islam and Islamism together with a number of prominent intellectual and political figures in the field
The seminar program includes an unsually broad array of individuals including Muslim Brotherhood figures
Kamal El-Helbwy (Helbawi) (former spokesperson for the Muslim Brotherhood in the West)
Azzam Tamimi (British Muslim Initiative and Hamas spokesman)
Anas Altikriti (British Muslim Initiative and Cordoba Foundation)
Merve Kavakci (Turkish Islamist and U.S. academic)
Basheer Nafi (Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader, formerly associated with IIIT)
Featured Western Muslim Brotherhood supporters include:
John Esposito (Georgetown University academic)
John O. Voll (Georgetown University academic)
Robert Leiken Nixon Center, (author of article supporting engagement with the Brotherhood)
Alistair Crooke (founding Director of Conflicts Forum, former MI6 agent, U.K. intermediary to Islamist groups)
Robert Lambert (former head of the Metropolitan Police Muslim Contact Unit)
Islam Expo, the venue for the event, is an annual event that has in the past been supported by Muslim Brotherhood organizations such as the Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe (FIOE) together with the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) and the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) and may be funded by Qatari sources.