The Federation of Muslim Youth and Student Organizations (FEMYSO) has announced the launch of an ecological project titled “Green Up My Community. According to the announcement, the project is being carried out in conjunction with an Islamic NGO known as “Made in Europe” and is partly financed by the Council of Europe:
January 22, 2013 FEMYSO, in cooperation with development NGO MADE in Europe, are launching ‘Green Up my Community!’, a campaign to inspire a pan-European youth-led Green Muslim movement.
The campaign will educate European Muslim youth to campaign for climate and trade justice issues, encouraging them to think and live ‘Green’ and training them in the skills needed to change the habits of their local communities. The first part of the campaign is a training course which will take place from the 16th to 21st of December 2012 in Berlin for 30 young activists.
The course will train young European Muslims in campaigning tools and skills and educate them on global development issues including climate change, trade justice and global inequalities. The 30 young activists will be trained and empowered to change the habits and practices of their local institutions, mosques and communities.
The campaign will take place through 2013 and will aim to inspire a new Muslim youth-led pan-European environmental and trade justice movement. It will bring together European youth from over 10 European countries with a keen interest in tackling environmental and trade justice issues to share knowledge and strategies on embedding environmentally friendly and ethical consumption habits among their local communities. Intissar Kherigi, FEMYSO Vice-President, said: ‘We are very excited to be launching this new initiative, something that has never been done at the European level. European Muslim youth have twice the reasons to be green and ethical consumers – based on a shared humanity and based on their faith, which encourages them to care for the earth and for their fellow human beings around the world. We all have freedom of choice – let’s exercise it in a way that protects our earth and gives dignity and sustainability to farmers and producers around the world’. This project is part-funded by the European Youth Foundation, a fund established in 1972 by the Council of Europe to provide financial support for European youth activities.
The GMBDW reported last August that FEMYSO Vice-President Kherigi Intissar Kherigi is actually the daughter of Tunisian Muslim Brotherhood leader Rachid Ghannouchi, one the most important leaders in the Global Muslim Brotherhood.
A NEFA Foundation report authored by the GMBDW editor identifies 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 post from August identified two other FEMYSO leaders as children of important European Muslim Brotherhood leaders.
Made In Europe has no known ties with the Global Muslim Brotherhood.