JIHAD BY COURT: A MODERN STRATEGY TO “TERRIFY THE ENEMY OF ALLAH”

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Jihad by court: a modern strategy to “terrify the enemy of Allah”

27.09.2015 Valentina Colombo

Hasan al-Banna in the Letter of teachings, which is still one of the key documents in the Muslim Brotherhood curriculum, explained the meaning of jihad in the following way: “By jihad, I mean that imperative duty until the day of Resurrection which is reflected in the following saying of the Messenger of Allah – praise and benediction of Allah upon Him: “Whoever dies without carrying out a military expedition, or wishing to do so, dies a pre-Islamic death.” Its lowest degree is the heart’s abhorrence of evil, and its highest degree is fighting in the path of Allah. Between these two degrees are other forms of jihad: jihad with the tongue, pen, hand, and speaking a word of truth to the unjust authority. The call can survive only with jihad. The more lofty and far reaching is the call, the greater is the jihad in its path. The price required to support it is immense, but the reward given to its upholders is more generous: ‘And strive in the Way of Allah as you ought to.’ By this you know the meaning of your slogan ‘Jihad is our path’.”

Jihad by court is another form of “intermediate” jihad and is a modern and aggressive form of jihad through legal means. It is the Westernised and pseudo-democratic form of the Islamic institution called hisba which is derived from the Qur’anic order upon every Muslims of “commanding good and forbidding wrong”: “Ye are the best of peoples, evolved for mankind, enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong, and believing in Allah. If only the People of the Book had faith, it were best for them: among them are some who have faith, but most of them are perverted transgressors” (Qur’an 3: 110).

Jihad by court is one of the favourite means of the organizations and individuals ideologically linked with the Muslim Brotherhood in the West and sometimes is connected with the accusation of islamophobia. The strategy is clear: any journalist, writer, intellectual, academic, activist or any newspaper, organisation, association criticising or exposing an MB individual or organisation is very likely to be sued for defamation. The Legal Project, based in the USA, has given a very useful definition of this tactic: “Such lawsuits are often predatory, filed without a serious expectation of winning, but undertaken as a means to bankrupt, distract, intimidate, and demoralize defendants. Plaintiffs seek less to prevail in the courtroom than to wear down researchers and analysts. Even when the latter win cases, they pay heavily in time, money, and spirit. As counterterrorism specialist Steven Emerson comments, “Legal action has become a mainstay of radical Islamist organizations seeking to intimidate and silence their critics.” Islamists clearly hope, Douglas Farah notes, that researchers will “get tired of the cost and the hassle [of lawsuits] and simply shut up.”

This has been going on for years in Europe and the US. In some countries there are Western lawyers representing generations of leaders of political Islam from Yusuf Qaradawi to Rached al-Ghannouchi, from Tariq Ramadan to the UOIF, from the global Muslim Brotherhood to national organisations.

Only a few recent examples. On September 4, the Police Tribunal in Lille found Soufiane Zitouni guilty of non-public defamation and non-public insult toward the Lycée Averroès in Lille, linked with UOIF and his president Amar Lasfar, for an email he had sent colleagues accusing the school’s leadership of being a “hypocritical vipers’ nest.” The court assessed that Zitouni did not substantiate his claim and thus found him guilty. In a press communiqué, Averroes high school welcomed the court’s decision against Zitouni’s guilty verdict: “The Lille Court sentenced Soufiane Zitouni and found him guilty of defamation and insults against the Lycée Averroès.” It further stated that “this decision comes after a report from the Ministry of National Education which demonstrated no violation of the Republic’s values.” In the same press release the Lycée “mistakenly” wrote that Zitouni was condemned for public defamation instead of “non-public defamation”.

The court judgement has been an apparent victory for the Lycée, that however did not dare to sue Zitouni for his articles on Liberation where he exposed the methods and the contents of classes in the high school. A few days later, Mohamed Louizi, another prominent critic of the MB in France, announced on his Facebook page that he was being sued for public defamation by the President of the Association Lycée Averroès, Amar Lasfar for a series of critical articles he published last Spring on his Mediapart blog. If found guilty, he could be liable for a fine of up to 12,000 Euros.

On July 29, 2015, the Italian newspaper Il Giornale launched a call to financially support its journalist Magdi Cristiano Allam after an Italian court ordered him to pay more than 8,000 Euros because he linked the Italian Union of Islamic Organisations in Italy (UCOII) with the MB and Hamas during a TV program in 2006. Although I do not agree with his political choices and his harsh stand against Islam, Magdi Cristiano Allam was condemned to death by Hamas and has been living under the protection of the Italian Ministry of Interior since 2003 as a result. During the program, he accused the Muslim Brotherhood of being at the origin of his death sentence.

Allam has been one of the staunchest accusers of the MB network in Italy and has been for years the target of the jihad by court, led by the Italian lawyer Luca Bauccio who counts among his clients Rached Ghannouchi, Tariq Ramadan, Yusuf Qaradawi, Youssef Nada and all Italian leaders of political Islam.

Another example is the lawsuit that was initiated by the Union of the Islamic Organizations of France and the Great Mosque of Paris against “Charlie Hebdo” for republishing the Danish cartoons about Muhammad is one of the most famous examples of this kind of jihad. In March 2008, the Paris Court of Appeals rejected all the accusations as, the cartoons, “which clearly refer only to a part not to the whole Muslim community, cannot be considered neither an outrage nor a personal and direct attack against a group of people because of their religious faith and do not go beyond the limits of freedom of expression.” However, the deadly attack against Charlie Hebdo on January 2015 confirms that jihad by court can turn out to be the green light to more radical organisations that decide to use less democratic means.

The French Court acted in a responsible and sensible way, but what happened to “Charlie Hebdo,” and keeps on happening to many writers and journalists should lead us to conclude that: first, the attacks of “jihad by court” do not come from all Muslims, they come from so-called “Islamic communities and organizations”, that usually are simple non-profit associations which do not represent anybody but themselves, and from individuals and organizations who protect themselves by attacking the others in the name of freedom and defamation.

In Europe and the US there is a long list of people who have been victims of jihad by court: from Daniel Pipes to Fiammetta Venner, from Mohammed Sifaoui to Magdi Cristiano Allam, from Soufiane Zitouni to Heiko Heinisch, from Souad Sbai to Mohamed Louizi. Most of them perfectly know political Islam, its actors and strategies. Some of them have also been in the past active members of political Islam. However, Western judges have not realised yet that anti-defamation laws have been exploited by political Islam in the West to silence the other, that political Islam is not Islam and does not represent the majority of Muslims living in Europe.

Last but not least, Western judges and law makers should realise that jihad by court is one of the new strategies to implement not only Hasan al-Banna’s Letter of teachings, but also the motto of the Muslim Brotherhood represented by the following Qur’anic verse: ““And prepare against them whatever you are able of power and of steeds of war by which you may terrify the enemy of Allah and your enemy and others besides them whom you do not know [but] whom Allah knows. And whatever you spend in the cause of Allah will be fully repaid to you, and you will not be wronged” (Surat al-Anfal, 60).

Jihad by court is the non-violent, but aggressive way to “terrify the enemy of Allah and your enemy.”

ENNAHDA DEPUTIES INVITED BY THE FRENCH FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTRY

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Ennahda deputies invited by the French Foreign Affairs Ministry

22.09.2015 La rédaction

Four  Ennahda deputies were invited by the French Foreign Affairs Ministry to take part in the programme “Personalities of the Future”: Hayet Omri, Sayida Ounissi, Naoufel Jammali, Imen Ben Mhamed. In addition, 10 non Ennahda deputies and elected representatives were also present.

The programme was established by the French Foreign Affairs Ministry with a view to identifying foreign contacts who could become potential partners. It was therefore a special event. For some Quai d’Orsay officials the Muslim Brotherhood remains a key partner even though there was a majority of non fundamentalist deputies.

For the Ennahda deputies this visit was an opportunity to meet with politicians who had not hesitated to support their party. Sayida Ounissi, who attended the US-Islamic World Forum from 1-3 June 2015 in Doha, Qatar, wrote on her Facebook page that both Stéphane Romatet  and Claude Bartolone “support” (our) “transition”. To their credit both Razzy Hammadi and Claude Bartolone have also criticized the fundamentalists.

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However, in July 2014, on one of Tunisia’s major websites, Sayida Ounissi vehemently insulted “The lying gangsters of Kapitalis (they have to be to write in this rag) publish the press release of the mentally deranged and victims of hallucinations who link UniT, Escot, Connect and the ATUGE to Ennahdha in their pro-election actions“. On the status of women, she speaks of “bourguibist mythology” and “benalist insrumentalisation”.

The delegation then met with Jean-Paul Delevoye, President of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council, Annick Girardin, Secretary of State for Development and Francophonie and with Jack Lang at the Institut du Monde Arabe. Following the meeting the Ennahda deputy for France stated: “I expressed to him my idea of organizing an exhibition at the IMA on the little known works of the Bardo Museum. This would send a strong signal across the world and promote the cultural influence of a region which has been hit by violence and terrorism. He welcomed this proposition and the museum and his team are in the process of achieving the project”. 

Manuel Valls also met with the delegation, but no photo was published. The Prime Minister expressed his commitment to fight against Islamic fundamentalism and the Muslim Brotherhood. The Tunisian democrats were encouraged by the fact that Manuel Valls refused to shake hands with President Moncef Marzouki. According to Sayida Ounissi “His diplomatic adviser Stéphane Romatet publicly acknowledged Ennahdha’s role in the democratic process.”

This post is also available in العربية and Français .

A RABIA BUS FOR SISSI

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A Rabia Bus for Sissi

20.09.2015 Fiammetta Venner

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A bus flying the Rabia colors circulated in New York as Sissi was expected at the UN headquarters.

The Rabia, and its little yellow hand, have become a rallying cry for the Muslim Brotherhood and their supporters. Beyond solidarity with victims of repression, the Rabia has a mystical meaning. Each finger of the Tamkeen hand represents a step in the taking of power.

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Step 1 : Presentation of Islam.

Step 2 : Selection of future “Muslim Brotherhood” members

Step 3 : Confrontation and specialization

Step 4 : Domination and Tamkeen

For more information on the Rabia sign:

This post is also available in العربية and Français.

JEREMY CORBYN FUNDAMENTALIST FRIENDS

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Jeremy Corbyn fundamentalist friends

14.09.2015 Caroline Fourest

Should we celebrate Jeremy Corbyn’s victory? The radical left speak of an “earthquake”. For others, however, it is a political suicide. In fact it all depends how one views Jeremy Corbyn. From a purely economic angle, shared by most newspapers, his victory is encouraging and shows that in England there is still a left which can defend the welfare state. The new Labour Party leader is firmly opposed to austerity policies. He is even calling for renationalization of energy and the railways. After so many years of deregulation and privations under Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair it is refreshing.

Corbyn’s election can be seen as the death of Blairism, the sign that after Syriza and Podemos it is possible to dream of a Great Britain which is not only obsessed with scuppering political Europe, but on the contrary favours a real European recovery policy. If such were the case it would indeed be heartening. But this victory is misleading.

The election of Jeremy Corbyn will not be the death of Blairism, but will plunge the left in England into a very long coma, for with him as Labour leader, as soon as the public becomes aware of his policies, the Conservatives are sure to remain in Downing Street for many long years.

Support for victims of…. anti-terrorism

The Conservatives are already looking forward to confronting him given his accumulation of questionable positions over the years, and we are not referring here to his economic position. Corbyn’s alternative and ambitious economic policy, which does not have the favour of many English people, merits a debate and being defended. No, we are referring here to his positions on international policy, freedom of expression and terrorism, subjects which are sometimes minimized by political commentators, but which are in no way minor subjects.

For example, certain associations are concerned by Corbyn’s frequentations in conspiracy theory and anti Semitic circles, those he calls his “friends”: leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah, with whom he has the “pleasure and honour” of addressing meetings.

Corbyn’s entourage defends him by explaining that he was unaware of the negationist convictions of two of his friends and that anyway he refers to everyone as “his friends”. Yet the fact remains that Corbyn has offices with his friends at Finsbury Mosque (“a wonderful community asset” according to Corbyn), one of the most radical mosques in Europe and which the Muslim Brotherhood took over from the jihadists.

He also supports CAGE, an association founded by Islamists not, as incredible as it seems, to support victims of terrorism but victims of anti-terrorism! A question of priority.

The “inclusive” left alongside the extremists

Still on the subject of questionable positions, Corbyn is always happy to give interviews on Iranian TV and Russia Today, the propaganda channel of the Russian regime, which is his favourite channel. He even described it as the most “objective” channel in the audiovisual landscape. Which speaks volumes for his vision of the world.

In 2006 he demonstrated against the publication of the drawings of Mahomet, alongside English fundamentalists, compared to whom our Islamists look like protesters from the 60s and 70s. Apart from that he was really and truly sorry about what happened on January 7.

To summarize, his rebellious streak and elementary anti Americanism make Jeremy Corbyn a pure product of the radical left which flirts with the worst extremists in the world.

His priority is not so much to reduce inequality as to promote an “inclusive” multiculturalist policy, a seductive expression which can be translated as the Anglo-Saxon communitarian model, which encourages competition between communities for fundamentalist derogations, to the detriment of gender equality and secularism.

It is alarming that such unsavoury positions did not scupper his chance to be elected leader of Labour. But one thing is certain, they will be dragged up and seen by the British public at the next general elections as fatal for the country.

Jeremy Corbyn will never convince a broad public

If the Labour left wanted to remain in opposition, they could not have made a better choice. For some of their sympathizers it doesn’t really matter. For someone who is a leftist through and through and not a progressive, the objective is not to convince a majority to sign up for progress but to be right, standing alone against the world. This way they remain pure.

In this respect those who defend an alliance between the radical left and the fundamentalists and tyrants of the world can rest assured. Until they can demonstrate their ability to propose an economic alternative and rid themselves of their indulgence, blindness even, towards fundamentalists and dictators there is no risk they will dirty their hands by governing the country.

In spite of the crisis and all they could have going for them the radical left will never attract the democratic left. During the past decade, marked by the risk of terrorist attacks, all the radical left has done is contribute to the progression of the far right. They have absolutely no influence on the future of Europe, except as a fear factor.

Caroline Fourest

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JEREMY CORBYN

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Jeremy Corbyn

14.09.2015 Fiammetta Venner

Jeremy Corbyn is the new leader of the Labour Party. His links with Muslim Brotherhood and political islamists are ancient and recurrent. He may never be elected prime minister but as leader of the opposition, he can still appoint people to parliamentary committees and is privy to some intelligence briefings. The Brotherhood will definitely benefit.

• Jeremy Corbyn travelled to Tehran at the expense of Ardeshir Naghshineh a British-Iranian multi-millionaire who has employed a number of other British parliamentarians as consultants to build business links with the country. *

• In february 2013 , Jeremy Corbyn  and his wife travelled to Gaza thanks to a funding from Interpal, a British charity considered by the US government as “part of the funding network of Hamas” and as a terrorist organisation.

•  Jeremy Corbyn was due to speak at a conference organised by Middle East Monitor (MEMO) in august 2015. MEMO’s director, Daud Abdullah, is a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood-linked British Muslim Initiative, set up and run by the Brotherhood activist Anas al-Tikriti and two senior figures in Hamas. Jeremy Corbyn finally cancelled the meeting after press scandal. MEMO’s “senior editor”, Ibrahim Hewitt, believes that adulterers should be stoned to death, is chairman of Interpal, the Hamas-linked charity.

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• Jeremy Corbyn and sponsored the visit to Britain of Sheikh Raed Saleh, who spread the classic “blood libel” against Jews, the claim that they use the blood of gentile children to make their bread. Mr Saleh, who also describes Jews as “monkeys” and “bacteria,” claims that 9/11 was a Jewish plot and that the Jews employed at the World Trade Center were warned not to come into work that day. Jeremy Corbyn explained that Sheikh Raed Saleh was “a very honoured citizen who represents his people extremely well”

•  In November 2012, Mr Corbyn hosted a meeting in Parliament with Mousa Abu Maria, a member of the banned terrorist group Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

• In his parliamentary constituency of Islington, Corbyn hosts meetings at the Finsbury Park Mosque. One of the mosque’s trustees is Muhammad Sawalha, a fugitive Hamas commander. According to BBC reports, Sawalha is “said to have masterminded much of Hamas’s political and military strategy” from London.

He receives his constituents in the mosque. When HSBC shuts accounts of Muslim organisations, including Finsbury Park mosque, Jeremy Corbyn described the mosque as : “wonderful community asset”*. Not only Jeremy Corbyn receives his constituents in the Mosque but he also speaks in it*.

• Jeremy Corbyn wrote a letter defending Stephen Sizer, the vicar disciplined by the Church of England for linking to an article on social media entitled 9/11: Israel Did It.

• He spoke at an event commemorating Iranian revolution*. The event was run by Iranian regime groups.

• Presented a call-in programme on Press TV, a propaganda channel of the Iranian government which was banned by Ofcom and which regularly hosts Holocaust deniers.

• Accused of donating money to self-proclaimed Holocaust denier Paul Eisen. Jeremy Corbyn’s office explained the they had had no contact with Eisen and that Corbyn disassociated himself from his extreme views. But photos remained.

• Jeremy Corbyn wrote a letter to explain that Cage was a honorable organisation. An organisation who supports victims of antiterrorism.

• Last but not least, Jeremy Corbyn considers Russia Today as the most objective media on international affairs.

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MIDDLE EAST MONITOR (MEMO)

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Middle East Monitor (MEMO)

14.09.2015 La rédaction

Middle East Monitor is a website with aims to facilitate a better understanding and appreciation of the Palestine issue. The website develops a strongly pro-Brotherhood and pro-Hamas view of the region. Its Facebook fan page is followed by 494 993 persons.

Middle East Monitor informations were quoted by many mainstream media such as :

  • – The Telegraph
  • – The New York Times
  • – The Independent
  • – The Guardian
  • – The Financial Times
  • – The Times

Unfortunately these prestigious media forgot to inform their readers of the Middle East Monitor staff political background linked to Muslim Brotherhood.

• The director of Middle East Monitor, Daud Abdullah, is a former Deputy Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain where he consistently backed the boycott of Holocaust Memorial Day. He is also member of Muslim Brotherhood-linked British Muslim Initiative, set up and run by the Brotherhood activist Anas al-Tikriti and two senior figures in Hamas. Daud Abdullah is Khateeb of An Noor Mosque, home for radicals. In 2009, The Guardianrevealed that Daud Abdullah advocates attack on the Royal Navy if it tries to stop arms for Hamas being smuggled into Gaza.

• MEMO’s senior editor, Ibrahim Hewitt a convert who believes that adulterers should be stoned to death. He is chairman of Interpal, the Hamas-linked charity.

• Walaa Ramadan is researcher for MEMO. Great fan of Morsi, she uses the Rabaa sign and endorse the anti-Semite Erdogan quote : “There are only two paths in Egypt: Those who follow the Pharoah, and those who follow Moses.”

• Hanan Chehata is Middle East Monitor press officer. She also news editor at Middle East Eye linked to Interpal a British charity banned by the US government as “part of the funding network of Hamas”.

• Tariq Ramadan serves as Honorary Advisers to the Middle East Monitor.

Middle East Monitor is not only giving the Muslim Brotherhood Point of vue. MEMO has organised several meetings featuring Hamas and extremist leaders. On may 2013, MEMO invited Jafar Hadi Hassan for his book ‘Qadaya wa Shaksyat Yahudiya (Jewish Issues and Personalities). The website is also home to conspiracy theories about Jews and Israël, explaining that “Israeli donors controls Westminster” or that “Arabs governments fund Israeli assaults on Gaza”.

In august 2015 Middle East Monitor hosted a big meeting with Jeremy Corbyn, futur leader of Labour. Corbyn finally cancelled it after the media picked up on Stand for Peace report*.

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DALIA MOGAHED

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Dalia Mogahed

07.09.2015 Fiammetta Venner

Dalia Mogahed is currently Executive Director, Gallup Center for Muslim Studies. She was born in Egypt, raised in the US and graduated from the University of Wisconsin and the University of Pittsburgh. Her major was Chemical Engineering. In 2009, she was appointed by Barack Obama to the White House Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

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In this role, Mogahed joined other American leaders in offering recommendations to the U.S. president on how faith-based organizations can best work with government to solve society’s toughest challenges. Mogahed was invited to testify before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee on U.S. engagement with Muslim communities, and serves on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Advisory Council. She also joined Madeleine Albright and Dennis Ross as a leading voice in the U.S.-Muslim Engagement Project. This small group of American leaders, which included senior government, military, and business decision makers, produced a consensus report with key policy recommendations on improving America’s relationship with Muslims globally, many of which were later adopted by the Obama Administration. She is the first veiled woman to serve in the White House.

Mogahed also serves on the boards of Freedom House, Women in International Security, Soliya, and she is a non-resident fellow at Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy at the American University of Beirut. Arabian Business magazine recognized her as themost influential Arab woman in the world, and The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre included Mogahed in their list of the 500 most influential Muslims in the world. She was also awarded the Arab World’s Social Entrepreneur of the Year award by Ashoka.

In her role as a Gallup scientist, Mogahed is a frequent expert commentator in global media outlets and international forums. Her analyses have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy magazine, the Harvard International Review, and many other academic and popular journals. Her audiences have included heads of state, parliamentarians from around the world, and religious leaders from every faith.

Dalia Mogahed network is quite important. On her consulting website she listed the organisations with whom she worked with.

  • AT Kearny
  • Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
  • Brookings
  • Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
  • The Chautauqua Institution
  • The Elliot School For International Affairs at George Washington University
  • National Defense University
  • The Office of Her Majesty Queen Rania of Jordan
  • Soliya
  • The UN Alliance of Civilizations
  • The UN Foundation
  • The United States Department of State
  • The United States Institute for Peace
  • The World Economic Forum

Her father Elsayed Mogahed was the director of the Islamic Center of Madison next to the University of Wisconsin Campus.

She writes on regular basis fan comments on Yusuf Qaradawi website. Yusuf Qaradawi, the spiritual leader of the MB is actually on Interpol wanted list. The website IslamOnline.net describes her as a « success story in USA ». In an interview in this website, she says that there is actually no relation between Islam and terrorism : « Many have claimed that terrorists have ‘hijacked Islam’. I disagree. I think Islam is safe and thriving in the lives of Muslims around the world ».

In the US she harshly defended the MB linked organisations :  Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA).

She was a speaker for all these organizations (close to Muslim brothers) :

  • Islamic Circle of North America, ICNA, (2015)
  • Muslim American Society, MAS, (2016)
  • Islamic Society of North America – Muslim Student Association, ISNA-MSA (2016 with Tariq Ramadan)
  • Muslim Public Affairs Council, MPAC, (2016)

In an interview with Al-Arabiya Channel, Dalia Mogahed says “My work focuses on studying Muslims, the way they think and their views”. She is not afraid of creating a « muslim community », where all muslims would be the same, with the ideas she wants them to believe in, with all the same stereotypes. Al-Arabiya also reveals that she wants to reduce the number of abortions.

With John L. Esposito, a long time MB friend, she co-authored in 2007 the groundbreaking book Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think. One of her principal work Mogahed was to explain that most Muslims worldwide support democracy and freedom of speech and rarely (7%) supports political radicalism. She also explains that Sharia is « a [moral] compass reflecting principles valid in any era, which cannot be changed » while Islamic law, jurisprudence, is « a map that must conform to this compass ».

In various occasions Dalia Mogahed explained that Muslim Brotherhood was a peaceful alternative to jihadists. On Sept 2008 at the Religion Newswriters Association’s annual conference in Washington, she explained  that “‘Islamic terrorism is really a contradiction in terms because terrorism is not Islamic by definition.”

In October 2009, she was invited to the annual dinner of CAIR (blamed by the FBI because suspected of links with Hamas, and classified terrorist in the United Arab Emirates). She seems to have canceled her participation when it was announced that she would share her dinner with Imam Siraj Wahhaj, a former supporter of Nation Of Islam, a Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman’s supporter, a stoning suporter, who considers “Allah as superior to democracy “, and who is quoted as” unindicted co-conspirator “in the attack of the World Trade Center in 2003. However, she participated in CAIR’s annual dinner in 2015 and is announced to the one of December 17, 2016. CAIR publishes complimentary articles on Dalia Mogahed on its website, and does not hesitate to congratulate her on her role with President Obama.

In the end of October 2009, she gives an interview to the English channel Muslima Dilemna, which belongs to the political party Hizb ut-Tahrir (or party of the Islamic liberation). This party militates openly for the establishment of a global Caliphate governed by the Sharia. In the face of two Hizb ut-Tahrir activists who defend Shari’a as a source of legislation and say that the woman should not have a leadership position, she does not give any contradiction, and says: “I think the reason so many women support Sharia is because they have a very different understanding of sharia than the common perception in Western media. The majority of women around the world associate gender justice, or justice for women, with sharia compliance. The portrayal of Sharia has been oversimplified in many cases ”. Dalia Mogahed takes the opportunity to say to her interlocutors that her role is “to convey… to the President and other public officials what it is Muslims want.” 

Dalia Mogahed attended Doha, Feb. 2010 7th U.S.-Islamic World Conference a meeting with most of the Muslim Brotherhood leaders. Such as Anas Al-Tikriti; Malaysian Islamic opposition leader and board member of the U.S. International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT), Anwar Ibrahim; member of the European Council for Fatwa andResearch Abdallah Bin Bayyah; U.K. MB leader  Kamal El-Helbawi(banned from the U.S.); ISNA leader Mohamed Magid and Yahya Hendi of the Fiqh Council of North America.Dalia Mogahed also attended 2013 conference.

In 2010 she also described Gülen movement as « very inspiring for Muslims ».

In 2012, in a tweet, she told Bachar Al-Assad supporters that « he can not deliver stability, protection of minorities, or resistance to Israel ».

In 2014, Dalia Mogahed was invited by the french organisation CCIF (Collectif contre l’Islamophobie en France). She went to CCIF congress with Marwan Muhammad, Rokhaya Diallo, Houria Bouteldja, Nabil Ennasri, Ahmed Jaballah, and also the famous sexist imams Rachid Abou Houdeyfa and Nader Abou Anas.

This post is also available in Français .

HAVRE DU SAVOIR

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Havre du Savoir

31.08.2015 Fiammetta Venner

Havre du Savoir is a website that relays the message of the Muslim Brotherhood in French. In its presentation, it explains:

“Havre du Savoir is an association which aims at presenting Islam in a comprehensive healthy and authentic way. It chose as an objective to promote its ethical and moral values as well”

Many organizations of the Muslim Brotherhood movement pretend to represent the official and “authentic” Islam, when in reality, it delivers a political message. Moncef Zenati, member of the UOIF bureau is in charge of the « teaching and the presentation of Islam » he is the author of most texts and videos in the website. The other main participants are Hassan Iquioussen and Hani Ramadan. A readers Club of the organization is held in the city of Le Havre (the word ‘havre’ in French also means haven and ‘savoir’ means knowledge). Were invited Christophe Oberlin, Nabil Ennasri and the rapper Médine for the book he wrote with Pascal Boniface.

The organization says how pleased it is about the « success » of the Turkish Islamists and declares outright that Turkey is the only country “where Islam and democracy succeeded where no other Muslim country succeeded”.

Through the Havre du Savoir, young French men and women will learn to mistrust Shiites, Zayidis, Alawites and Yazidis, and to “understand why they are not in line with the Prophet’s ways”. In other words why they are the enemy. Let us remember that in Syria, under the laws of the Islamic State (Daesh) the Yazidis are reduced to slavery and exterminated.

February 12th 2015, Havre du Savoir called on its readers to participate in the charity gala of the

Syrians & Friends Paris association. Among the participants were namely:

  • Hussein AYLOUCH president of CAIR Los Angeles who explained how to resist to the “discourse conveyed by the media after events like 9/11 or Charlie Hebdo”.
  • Abderrahman HADJOUDJE, producer of the trilogy California Muslims.
  • Mustafa NASSAR ADALIL, University AL AZHAR, who recalled the definition of leadership in Islam referring to the prophet and his companions.

Several personalities and associations were announced, namely: JMF, AAVS, UOSSM, Baraka city, Nabil Ennasri, Deen de confiance, Ahmed Jaballah, Ummawork, Umma’Nite, Deen Factor ».

Hassan El Banna is regularly quoted as an essential guide as seen in this screenshot. The organization identifies itself not only with the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood but also with Sayyid Qutb who, up until a short time ago, was denied by the Brotherhood which had a hard time presenting his justification of violence in a positive manner.

Hassan-Al-Banna-Ikwan-whoswho-Havre-du-savoir-300x216

In July 2015, the organization illustrated his profile on Facebook with the Rabaa sign.

108 000 people follow the Facebook page of Havre du Savoir. 108 000 people who could read that they should beware of the French media and politicians. Moncef Zenati, in fact, declared when Mohammad Morsi was condemned to death :

« Not one word in the 8 o’clock news bulletin of France 2. France, the country where human rights were born, the country that defends democracy is not even capable of denouncing such an injustice. France with its republican values is turning its back on these values. When I think that Manuel Valls did not prevent himself from reminding the French Muslims of his phobia of the Muslim Brotherhood that he qualified as a worrying movement. The oppressed are worrying, while their executioner is received in the Elysée palace with all the honors. Revolting!

What Moncef Zenati forgets to say is :

  • Like many other Muslim Brothers leaders, he was invited by the government of Manuel Valls to speak about Islam of France.
  • Several intellectuals, journalists and militants declared their opposition to the death penalty for political reasons. Some of our editorialists did so as well, and they are not known to be gentle with the Brotherhood.

However, for Zenati to say so would imply avoiding to radicalize the readers of le Havre du Savoir, helping them to be nuanced, which is apparently not the objective of the organization.

Havre du Savoir enjoys a good reputation in France. The rapper Médine did not hesitate to declare that he fights against Islamophobia through the association Havre du Savoir.

This post is also available in  العربية and Français.

TUNISIA, A TESTING GROUND FOR AN ALLIANCE BETWEEN THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD AND JIHADISTS

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Tunisia, a testing ground for an alliance between the muslim brotherhood and jihadists

31.08.2015 Hala Abdennour

Political Islam in general and the Muslim Brotherhood ideology in particular can lead to terrorism. There are many examples of connivance between the Muslim Brotherhood and jihadists and Tunisia seems to provide a testing ground for this alliance.

Four dates to be retained:

  1. No sooner was he elected Mohammad Ghannouchi granted an amnesty to political prisoners, including Seif Allah Ben Hassine (aka Abu Iyadh), convicted of terrorist activities and who on his release immediately founded Ansar Al Sharia.
  2. Not only did the Ennahda government (24/12/2011-13/3/2013) tolerate this movement, but several party members attended their meetings, as Seif Allah Ben Hassine preached freely in mosques and his organization multiplied their “humanitarian” actions across the country.
  3. After the attack against the American embassy, the assassination of Chokri Belaïd and subsequently of Mohammed Brahmi, two major figures of the secular opposition, Ansar Al Sharia pursued its activities in Tunisia.
  4. One month after the last assassination evidence of Ansar Al Sharia’s implication was brought to light. Ansar Al Sharia was designated as a terrorist organization and banned.

Why was there such a delay in discovering this when it was well known that Ben Hassine was one of Bin Laden’s right hand men? Was the Ennahda government   unaware that this organization is led by an extremist who preaches violence?

As Richard Spencer observed in The Daily Telegraph when he posed the question about the murky relationship between Ennahda and Ansar Al Sharia, was it necessary to wait until Ben Hassine had recruited and trained many young Tunisians who would go on to carry out other terrorist attacks at the Bardo Museum and in Sousse before neutralizing him?

Can Ennahda and its leader Rached Ghannouchi be trusted when Ghannouchi continues to appeal to certain Western intelligentsia despite his blatant double speak, for example in a video which circulated on social networks and in the main media in Tunisia and France? Yet again, on 25 August, Rached Ghannouchi demanded that Tunisia take back jihadists returning from Syria. He was quoted in the newspaper “Ettounsiya” as saying that showing clemency to terrorists returning from Syria would enable them to free themselves from the dark and obscure thoughts which they adopted out of ignorance and naivety.

Today Rached Ghannouchi states that his is the only party capable of countering the jihadists, because they can tell the difference between extremists and moderate Muslims. In fact Ennahda are not moderates, it is an extremist party whose aim is to establish an Islamic state and apply the Sharia. The truly moderate Muslims are those who believe that religion is a personal matter and must not be instrumentalized by politics. They are the ones, and no one else, who will be able to counter the extremists through a tolerant Islam.

Yes, we can say that the main rampart against Islamist violence is a non political Islam, i.e. the exact opposite of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Hala Abdennour

This post is also available in Français .

IKHWANOPHOBIA : A NEOLOGISM NOT TO BE UNDERESTIMATED

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Ikhwanophobia : A neologism not to be underestimated

31.08.2015 Valentina Colombo

In recent years the term “Islamophobia” has been widely used- and misused. If there are certain thinkers and politicians in the West who can be defined as “Islamophobes” for their ideas and writings, it is not entirely fair that people criticising radical Islam deserve this moniker. 

For instance, an irrational fear of Islam and Muslims can be found within the Italian party “Lega Nord” whose members are against mosques, without exception. In this case we are facing a kind of fear which is close to hate. But if someone says that mosques must operate transparently and remain far from ideologies linked to radical Islam, there should be no doubt that he or she is not an “Islamophobe.”

It is well known that the battle against “Islamophobia” is mainly led by the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation, the former Organisation of the Islamic Conference, and all Islamic associations linked to the Muslim Brotherhood. In the name of freedom of expression and of faith they have asked the international community to fight “Islamophobia”. Their efforts have produced the Resolution of the UN Human Rights Council in March 2010, condemning “Islamophobic” behaviour, including Switzerland’s minaret building ban, despite some states’ major reservations.

The Resolution “strongly condemns… the ban on the construction of minarets of mosques and other recent discriminatory measures.” These measures “…are manifestations of “Islamophobia” that stand in sharp contradiction to international human rights obligations concerning freedoms of religions,” the Resolution says. This document clearly shows how the term “Islamophobia” is misused and misunderstood. In Mohammad’s time there were no minarets and the first minaret of Islamic history dates to 80 years after his death, so banning minarets cannot be understood as fear of either Islam or of Muslims.

Following the recent revolutions in the Arab world, the return of members of the Muslim Brotherhood, previously in exile, and the legalisation of political parties linked to the movement, certain scholars, journalists and intellectuals have begun to point to the dangers of their ideology, since their stated aim is a unified Islamic state ruled by sharia law, where women, Christians and Jews will be considered minorities. The reaction of the movement founded by Hasan al-Banna in 1928 was immediate. “Islamophobia” has been joined by the term “Ikhwanophobia”, a term used to describe fear and hatred of the Muslim Brotherhood, in Arabic ikhwan al-muslimun. Among the websites connected to the movement there is www.ikhwanophobia.com. Here we read that: “’Ikhwanophobia’ is a new term, a neologism meaning the fear and hatred of Muslim Brotherhood members and their ideologies.” It continues that the term “refers to the unjustified intimidation of Muslim Brotherhood members by other people. “Ikhwanophobes” are the factions who call for discrimination towards Muslim Brotherhood members and Muslims in general. They may be characterised by having  the belief that all or most MB members  are religious fanatics, with  violent tendencies towards non-Muslims, and reject as directly opposed to Islam such concepts as equality, tolerance, and democracy.” This means that whoever quotes either Hasan al-Banna’s or Sayyid Qutb’s or Rached al-Ghannouchi’s work could be accused of “Ikhwanophobia.” In effect, this means that only praise of Islam and the Muslim Brotherhood is permitted, with criticism forbidden.

On the website, it clearly states that “Ikhwanophobia is completely linked to the ”Islamophobia” term, where there are continued accusations of Muslim societies and the Islamic Centers in Europe or in the US as being affiliated to the Muslim Brotherhood.” It continues, “Intimidation of the Muslim Brotherhood, of course, leads to many negative consequences that are contrary to basic human rights.” It seems as though all Muslims are linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, but of course this is not true. As Izz Eldin El Zir, president of the Union of Islamic Organizations and Communities in Italy (UCOII), who is ideologically linked to the Brotherhood, recently admitted in an interview: ”We do not pretend to represent all Muslims in Italy, but only the members of our association”.

The link between “Islamophobia” and “Ikhwanophobia” is dangerous and should be rejected out of hand. Ikhwanophobia.com says it is “determined to shed light on the accusations and allegations against the MB illustrating to the world the true face of moderate Islamists.” Ikhwanophobia.com also states that it is “concerned with exposing the claimants and ‘Ikhwanophobes.’” This means the start of a new form of legal jihad to halt the tongues of academics and researchers in the name of defending what the website calls the “absolute values of justice, freedom and human rights.” In fact, all this is simply a way of reducing freedom of expression and the freedom to conduct objective analysis about radical Islam which does not necessarily lead to the hatred of Muslims who are, themselves, the primary and most numerous victims of Islamic extremism.

Date: 20th July 2011

Valentina Colombo is Senior Fellow at the European Foundation for Democracy.