The Federation of Muslim Youth and Student Organizations (FEMYSO), a youth organization tied to Muslim Brotherhood in Europe, has issued its own condemnation of Israeli military action in Gaza. As with almost all such statements from Brotherhood organizations reported so far, no mention is made either of Hamas or its rocket campaign again Israel:
July 16, 2014 FEMYSO condemns in the strongest language the latest Israeli military assault in the Gaza Strip and calls on the international community, especially EU members, to take immediate steps to halt the killing of innocent civilians and hold those responsible for these atrocities accountable.
Israel has claimed it is engaging in surgically targeting militants in Gaza, however the indiscriminate nature of the strikes is demonstrated by the number of fatalities, which is over fifty including children, while the number of wounded has exceeded four hundred.
The current aggression is tantamount to the collective punishment on the inhabitants of Gaza. Collective punishment and indiscriminate targeting of civilian areas is a violation of international law.
It is surprising that Europe, whose union is founded on human rights, remains silent in the face of these violations. FEMYSO calls on Israel to immediately halt all forms of aggression against the innocent residents of Gaza and for the EU to condemn this aggression and immediately engage various community leaders and relevant organizations to fulfill our international and moral obligations.
The statement goes to describe the founding of FEMYSO:
FEMYSO was founded in 1996 in Sweden at a time when Muslim youth from across Europe felt the need to come together to create a united body, to share ideas and experiences, help develop the capacity of Muslim European youth and represent their concerns and views to the European institutions.
This explanation conveniently omits the role of the Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe (FIOE), the umbrella organization for the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe as well as the relationship between FEMYSO and the Saudi World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY). A 2008 report authored by the GMBDW editor explains:
Another source says that FEMYSO was created by a joint initiative of the FIOE and the World Assembly of Muslim Youth together with several national Muslim youth organizations. In 2004, the FIOE website included FEMYSO as one of its “central organizations” and described it as: “…a forum that consists of dozens of youth and student organizations and associations spanning most of Europe….The organization is headquartered in central Brussels, occupying one of two offices in a second floor office suite. The adjacent office is occupied by the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY). In 2003, Belgian phone records listed Bassen Hatahet, likely Bassem Hatahet, the FIOE member and Belgium Muslim Brotherhood leader, at the same address and a telephone number that belonged to the FEMYSO operation.
The report goes on to look at the relationship between various FEMYSO leaders and the Global Muslim Brotherhood.
In March, the GMBDW reported that Youssef Himmat, likely the son of German Muslim Brotherhood leader Ghaleb Ali Himmat, had been selected by the Secretary General of the Council Of Europe (COE) to serve for 2014-2-15 as member of the Council’s Advisory Council on Youth.
In August 2013 we reported that FEMYSO had elected new leadership that included children or close relatives of important European Muslim Brotherhood leaders including the daughter of Tunisian Muslim Brotherhood leader Rachid Ghannouchi.