The Federation of Muslim Youth and Student Organizations (FEMYSO) has reported on the launch of the second European Action Day Against Islamophobia and Religious Intolerance. According to the report, the event was launched with a European Parliament Roundtable hosted by FEMYSO and MEP Sajjad Karim:
02/10/2015 Last Monday, 21 September, saw the marking of the second European Action Day Against Islamophobia and Religious Intolerance, an initiative launched by NGOs together with the Council of Europe in 2014, within the framework of the No Hate Speech Movement.
This year’s European Day Against Islamophobia was launched at the heart of Europe, with a roundtable at the European Parliament, hosted by Sajjad Karim MEP together with FEMYSO, the Forum of European Muslim Youth and Student Organisations. The roundtable is particularly timely in light of the upcoming EU Colloquium on Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia on 1-2 October, organised by the European Commission.
The roundtable brought together around 40 policymakers and civil society representatives to discuss and propose measures to tackle Islamophobia at a European level. Discrimination against Muslims has become commonplace across the EU. Speakers including Sajjad Karim MEP and Soraya Post MEP urged policymakers to take urgent action to tackle discrimination against European citizens and residents, many of whom are being unfairly excluded from education and employment and suffer abuse and hate crime because of their religion or perceived religious affiliation. Soraya Post MEP reminded attendees that ‘Islamophobia is not the responsibility of Muslims, it is the responsibility of the whole of society’.
FEMYSO’s representative, Medine Tezcan, highlighted the need for European institutions to take stronger actions in order to tackle discrimination in order to send a message that discrimination must end. Five keys recommendations that urgently need to be addressed by European institutions and Members States were presented:
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The FEMYSO event featured two individuals and one group linked to the Global Muslim Brotherhood and/or the Hamas infrastructure in Belgium:
- The report identifies Hajib El Hajjaji, vice-president of the collective against Islamophobia in Belgium (CCIB), who was said to have presented the work of his organisation on data collection and victim support. The CCIB is further identified in the report as a partner of FEMYSO on several projects related to Islamophobia. In October 2013, the GMBDW reported on the 2nd annual Islamic Expo to have been held in Brussels. At that time we noted that the event was to have been addressed by Ahmed Al-Rawi, a leader of the Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe (FIOE), representing the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe. Also scheduled to address the event was Hajib El Hajjaji, identified in a NEFA Foundation report authored by the GMBDW editor as a leader in the Belgian Muslim Brotherhood and likely part of a family that is tied to the Hamas infrastructure in Belgium.
- In addition, the Twitter Feed of the group known as Mend (Muslim Engagement and Development), a UK group whose officials have been linked by British media to the UK Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas support organizations, indicates that it also participated in the FEMYSO event. In July, the GMBDW reported on both the extremist ties of MEND as well as on its crude attempt at smearing the GMBDW editor.
- In November 2008 we reported that Sajjad Karim, identified above as the co-host of the FEMYSO event, was a scheduled participant in a seminar on womens’ issues at the European Parliament scheduled which featured leaders of the European Muslim Brotherhood.
A NEFA Foundation report authored by the GMBDW editor identifies the Federation of Muslim Youth and Student Organizations (FEMYSO) as the youth/student arm of the Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe (FIOE), representing the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe. Over the years, FEMYSO has developed a relationship with both the Council of Europe and the European Commission where it has been invited since 2003 to attend meetings of the Group of Policy Advisers (GOPA). One of the important leaders of FEMYSO over the years has been Ibrahim El-Zayat, the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in Germany. Michael Privot, a Belgian convert and former youth leader in FIOE who in 2008 had openly acknowledged being part of the Muslim Brotherhood, has written in his blog that he has “put an end to all my links and ties with the European Muslim Brotherhood.” The GMBDW has reported that newly elected members of the organizations Executive Committee include relatives of important Global Muslim Brotherhood leaders such as the daughter of Tunisian Muslim Brotherhood leader Rachid Ghannouchi.