Following the controversy surrounding its upcoming conference in the Netherlands, the Federation of Islamic Organizations in the Netherlands (FION) has changed its list of invited speakers which now includes Salah Soltan, a global Muslim Brotherhood leader known for his virulently anti-Semtic statements. According to the revised conference program, Dr. Soltan described as Professor of Islamic Culture at Al Khaleej University in the Kingdom of Bahrain, will be speaking on “The relationship between the Muslim and the other between the prophetic model and its implantation in societies.”
Salah Soltan (aka Solah Sultan, Sallah Sultan) had left the U.S. following negative press reports in the U.S. media which led the authorities there to suspend his application for American citizenship and, as discussed in a previous post, relocated to Bahrain in 2007. Dr Sultan’s online resume indicates that he is or was a member of several important U.S. and European Muslim Brotherhood organizations including the European Council for Fatwa and Research, the Fiqh Council of North America, and the Islamic American University, closely associated with the Muslim American Society (MAS).This resume also expresses Dr. Soltan’s vision “To live happily. To die as a martyr.” Another previous post discussed some of Dr. Sultan statements including an appearance on Saudi TV where Dr. Sultan asserted that the US planned the 9/11 attacks as a pretext for terrorizing the world and praising Osama bin Laden confidante Abd Al-Majid Al-Zindani. A recent MEMRI TV report identified previously virulently anti-Semitic and anti-American comments made by Dr. Sultan on Egyptian TV in late December while another recent post discussed an appearance on Al-Aqsa TV in which Dr. Soltan repeated the so-called “blood libel” that Jews kidnap and kill Christians in order to use their blood for the making of Matzoh (substitute for bread used during the Jewish holiday of Passover).
Other speakers of note at the FION conference, scheduled for May 29 and titled “Towards a constructive dialogue to reach a Common Good”, now include:
- Mohammed Cheppih (in 2004 the director of the Saudi Muslim World League in the Netherlands)
- Salim Chemari (Secretary General of the International Support Organisation)
- Abdellah Benmansour (French Muslim Brotherhood)
- Ahmed Jaballah (FIOE officer and French Muslim Brotherhood)
An earlier post reported on the announcement that FION was co-sponsoring the above conference in connection with the International Support Organization (ISO), an entity headed by Global Muslim Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi and with ties to FIOE and to the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB), the FIOE UK member organization. That post also noted that the ISO was registered in the US to a Maryland attorney who was a former spokesman for a charity designated by the U.S. as a terrorist entity and who was also a spokesman for the now defunct American Muslim Council, a former arm of the US Muslim Brotherhood. The post also noted that the the General-Secretary of the ISO in the US was Salman al-Oadah (aka Salman Bin Fahd Al Ouda, Salman Al-`Udah, Salman Al Awda), recently known to be a sympathizer of Osama Bin Lad
The FION conference guest lists appears to have substantially changed after the Dutch parliament expressed its concern about both the conference and the activities of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Netherlands as represented by FION, the Dutch member of the Federation of Islamic Organizations In Europe (FIOE) which in turn represents the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe. In a statement, FION expressed it surprise at the controversy surrounding the conference and said that “even Christian preachers are invited to engage in dialog.” The statement also said that FION hopes that the conference will make a “constructive contribution to the launching of intercultural dialogue on the position of Islam and Muslims in the Netherlands and hopes to achieve a peaceful society that is free of suspicion towards each other.”