European Muslim Brotherhood Youth Organization Attends Bosnian Summer School Sponsored By US Muslim Brotherhood.

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In the category of Global Muslim Brotherhood networking, the Federation of Muslim Youth and Student Organizations (FEMYSO) is reporting that it is attending the summer school organized by by the US-based International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) and entitled, “Muslims in Europe: Challenges of Pluralism’ taking place in Sarajevo.” The summer is described by as follows:

FEMYSO
FEMYSO

The programme is designed for European undergraduate and graduate students who are majoring in Islamic studies, humanities or the social sciences and who are interested in developing their knowledge and expertise in the topics listed here. The programme will also provide an opportunity for participants to present and discuss their particular research in workshops. During the course of the programme, participants will complete a total of 80 hours of direct research and instruction and will receive a certificate of attendance from the organisers and the International University of Sarajevo.

In November 2013, the GMBDW reported that US Naval Academy instructor Ermin Sinanovic, also the IIIT Research Director, was teaching at a similar IIIT summer school held in Sarajevo. Also teaching at the 2013 school was

  • Tariq Ramadan, grandson of the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood.
  • Louay Safi, a US Muslim Brotherhood leader and former IIIT Research Director.

A NEFA Foundation report 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.

The International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) describes itself as “a private, non-profit, academic, cultural and educational institution, concerned with general issues of Islamic thought and education” and using the slogan “Towards Islamization of Knowledge and Reform of Islamic Thought.”  The concept for IIIT was developed at a meeting held in Lugano, Switzerland that was attended by many luminaries of the Global Muslim Brotherhood including Youssef Qaradawi. IIIT was founded in the U.S. in 1980 by U.S. Muslim Brotherhood leaders including Iraqi-born Jamal Barzinji and Hisham Altalib who wished to promote the Islamization of Knowledge as conceived by Ismail Al-Faruqi and who were also early leaders of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA). A 1991 internal document of the US Muslim Brotherhood, introduced as evidence in the holy Land Foundation trial, included IIIT in “a list of our organizations and organizations of our friends.”

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