The leader of the Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe has compared the Swiss decision to ban new minaret construction to the Nazi attitude toward Jews. According to a statement translated by MEMRI:
Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe chairman Chakib Makhlouf has condemned the Swiss ban on minarets on mosques, saying that “the racist spirit that we as Muslims face is the same spirit that Adolf Hitler once harbored against the Jews prior to World War II.” He added that the greatest danger was that the persecution of the Muslims was disguised as democracy, unlike the direct persecution of the Jews in the Nazi era.
Global Muslim Brotherhood leaders and organizations have often made the claim that Muslims are becoming the “new Jews.” Nevertheless, numerous posts have documented virulently ant-semtic comments made by global Brotherhood leaders and Youssef Qaradawi has written that all Jews and all Muslims will fight each other in a final battle in which Muslims will emerge victorious. Qaradawi has also written that Israel plots against the Al-Aqsa mosque are harbingers of this coming conflict.
A report on FIOE by the NEFA Foundation describes the organization as follows:
The Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe (FIOE) claims to be an independent organization representing the interests of Muslims in Europe. In reality, the FIOE is an umbrella group that comprises the global Muslim Brotherhood in Europe. Strong links connect FIOE’s leadership central institutions and member organizations to the Brotherhood, as well as to Saudi Arabia. Funding for the FIOE is derived largely from Gulf sources, including some of the ruling families of the United Arab Emirates. The FIOE has strong ties to Hamas and Hamas fund-raising organizations, and some FIOE member organizations show evidence of links with Al-Qaida. The FIOE recently opened a headquarters office in Brussels and has had some success in positioning itself as a “dialog partner” for the EU and other important institutions.
Previous posts have discussed the role of FIOE in alleging various Israeli conspiracies to destroy the Al-Aqsa mosque and the Swiss FIOE member organization speaking invitation to an individual known for virulently anti-Semitic and anti-American comments.
Source: Islamonline.net, December 1, 2009