Irish media is reporting the formation of a new group in Dublin aimed at encouraging local Muslims to become more politically active. According to the Irish Times report:
There has been no Muslim TD in Ireland since Moosajee Bhamjee served one Dáil term before standing down in 1997. He was elected a Labour Party TD for Clare in 1992.
The new South Dublin Muslim Board has nine members, from places such as Egypt, Pakistan, Morocco, Algeria, Iraq, Somalia, the Caucasus region, Jordan and Libya. It has been set up in anticipation of the general election and will hold its first public meeting at the Clayton Hotel in Leopardstown (formerly Bewleys Hotel) on January 15th at 7.45pm.
Candidates
Among those attending will be general election candidates in the south Dublin area and it is also believed a senior Government Minister may be present. Each candidate will make a presentation after which there will be a panel discussion where they can be questioned by Muslims.
Dr Ali Selim, of the Islamic Cultural Centre in Clonskeagh and a member of the board, said it was also planned to hold a subsequent meeting at which they would discuss candidates who might ‘serve the best interests of Muslims’.
He emphasised however that the board would not tell people how to vote. Setting up the South Dublin Muslim Board was ‘very much related to the general election’, he said. Muslims in Ireland ‘have become integrated’ and now the issue for them was of ‘partnership in society, of becoming active citizens’, he said.”
Awareness
It was intended over time that there should be similar Muslim boards throughout Dublin and the rest of Ireland with the aim of raising awareness of the importance of political participation in the community.
Read the rest here.
The last we reported on Dr. Selim was in November 2015 when he issued a statement condemning the terrorist attacks in Paris.
Ali Selim is the private secretary to Hussein Halawa, the imam of the Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland, closely tied to the European Muslim Brotherhood, and is described as an ICCI “resident theologian.” Mr. Selim attracted a great deal of local media attention in September 2006 when he told a newspaper interviewer that, ideally, he would like to see Shariah law adopted in Ireland in the “event of a Muslim majority.” Along the same lines, Mr. Selim said in 2006 that religious law should be imposed over secular law if that was wished by the majority. Other controversial statements by Dr. Selim include:
- Suggesting that there were conspiratorial forces behind the 911 attacks saying “history, definitely, will prove to us that those people were not the only ones involved in 9/11. That, in actual fact, there’s a wider circle that’s under the shade so we can’t see it at the moment. “
- Saying he had seen no proof that Muslims carried out the July 2006 London bombings, suggesting that videotapes of the bombers might have been faked and that he was not aware that they were identified by their own families.
- Claiming he was unaware of any Muslims calling for Jihad against the West
- Saying that he had “no opinion” about Osama Bin Laden
In September 2012, the GMBDW reported that Dr. Selim, had made comments praising the concept of “martyrdom.”
In February 2010, we reported on Dr. Selim in connection with statements by Irish Muslim Brotherhood leaders saying that a ban on face veils violates personal freedoms.
For a full report on the Muslim Brotherhood in Ireland, go here.