The Muslim Association of Greece (MAG) has reported on a two seminar that took place in Brussels in June and that was held by a European Muslim Brotherhood organization which specializes in new European converts to Islam. According to the report, the seminar featured U.S. Muslim Brotherhood leader Jamal Badawi:
A two-day seminar took place in Brussels on June 11&12, 2011 for the European Muslims. Many representatives from authorized organizations in Europe participated. This seminar was organized by NEMA (Native European Muslim Assembly) that belongs to FIOE, in cooperation with the Belgian association Euroislam.be. MAG was represented by Gerasimos Loukatos, Operations and Education manager. During the seminar the discussions on the table were focused on the challenges that the European Muslims are facing. Also, there were analyzed the ways that the harmonious coexistence can be achieved in a multi-cultural Europe. A very significant participation and contribution was the famous scholar Dr. Jamal Badawi, PhD professor on Business Administration and Islamic studies, with an enormous academic career in Canada the last 40 years. Dr. Badawi stressed the need for the Muslims to know more about their religion in order not to confuse religion with their culture. He also made references to the usual myths about Islam and to the self-responsibility and obligation that each one of us has in order to pursue the knowledge and to respect the diversity of the people, as it is also a part of the Islamic teachings. The hosts, the warm people of Euroislam Belgium, did their best to have a successful meeting, a high quality event that brought significant results, we really felt the Belgian hospitality. The Muslim Association of Greece will continue to participate to similar meetings, as an effort to contribute to the harmonious living of the Muslims in a multi-cultural Greece.”
Dr. Jamal Badawi is a leader in many of the most important organizations of the Global Muslim Brotherhood including the Islamic Society of North America, the Council on American Islamic Relations (Canada), the Fiqh Council of North America, the Muslim American Society, and the European Council for Fatwa and Research, also associated with FIOE. He recently retired from an academic position at St. Mary’s University in Halifax and continues to be one of the most widely traveled North American Muslim Brotherhood leaders. An earlier post discussed his role in the top leadership structures of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood.
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.
An earlier post reported on a summer camp sponsored by a Dutch organization that is linked to the Muslim Brotherhood in that country together with the “New European Muslim Assembly”, likely the same organization identified above as NEMA. Dr. Badawi is a featured speaker as well for that event together with Global Muslim Brotherhood figure Salah Sultan, who recently called for the killing of Israelis and the Israeli ambassador in Egypt, and Fadel Soliman who is the director of the Cairo- based Bridges Foundation, a body that specializes in presenting Islam to non- Muslims. The board of the Bridges Foundation, in turn, also includes Dr. Badawi as a board member along with Zaghoul El-Naggar, an Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood leader with a history of virulent anti-Semitism and a mentor of Sheikh Abdul Majeed Zindani who is wanted by the U.S.in connection with his support of Al Qaeda in Yemen and is also said to be, in turn, the “spiritual mentor” for the late Osama Bin Laden.
All of this suggests that new European converts to Islam are being indoctrinated by leaders of the U.S. and European Muslim Brotherhoods who in turn are associated with virulent anti-semitism and calls for terrorism.