Belgian Minister of Justice, Vanson van Quickenborn, to be questioned in front of Parliament

The Belgian Associations’ Register database indicates that the organization was officially established under the title of a non-profit association, and that its documents have been submitted to the authorities since November 2020, in the wake of the French authorities threatening to dissolve it after the killing of history professor Samuel Batty by an 18-year-old extremist Years old, last October 16 in Conflans Saint-Honorine, north of Paris.

According to the minister, the “Anti-Islamophobia Gathering” was involved in a campaign against the murdered teacher after publishing an inflammatory video of one of the fathers, while the organization said only that it was verifying the information, and that it did not intervene when it learned that the case related to freedom of expression.

On December 3, the French Interior Minister Gerald Draman published the text of the dissolution decree, indicating that the decision was taken during a cabinet meeting, Wednesday, on the orders of President Emmanuel Macron.

In the official report to resolve the “Anti-Islamophobia Gathering”, the French official explained the reasons behind this decision, noting that the organization “considers the measures taken by the government to prevent terrorist acts and prevent or combat acts punishable by law as anti-Islam measures.”

He continued, “Describing the government’s policies as anti-Islam would constitute participation, disregard and contribute to spreading such extremist ideas.”

The report accuses the organization of “spreading permanent suspicion among public opinion of religious persecution” by “not hesitating to conceal the truth in some cases.”

The “Anti-Islamophobia Rally” had anticipated the decision to dissolve it and hastened, in late November 2020, to liquidate all its activities in the European country and transfer them abroad, which was considered by observers as an attempt by the organization to bow to the storm of the countries of the continent to confront terrorism and extremism.

The “Anti-Islamophobia Gathering” is considered one of the organizations close to the Association of Muslims of France, the French branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, which was known for years as the “Union of Islamic Organizations in France”.

The organization said that its board of directors decided to liquidate its activities in France and transfer it to another country, without disclosing the new location from which it will work, explaining that it has transferred “a large part of its activities to partner associations that will fight Islamophobia.”

Anxiety in Belgium

The new emergence of the Brotherhood in Brussels led to the questioning of the Belgian Minister of Justice, Vanson van Quickenborn, in front of Parliament, amid concern of a number of deputies who considered it “unacceptable for such an assembly to settle in Belgium to spread radicalism,” according to a report published by the newspaper “Le Parisienne”. “.

The report indicates that Representative Georges Dalemani of the Central Stream said in the minister’s interrogation, “None of us forgot that the terrorists who struck France on November 13, 2015 came from Belgium, and established a network here, and they became extremists in Belgium, and this places responsibility on our country, especially with regard to what is happening.” Concerning France, but also in terms of European coordination and cohesion with regard to the radical Islamic threat. “

On the one hand, Vincent Monnier, a security expert in Brussels, told Sky News Arabia that the Belgian executive authorities do not legally have the right to dissolve any organization or association because this matter is exclusively for the judiciary. Political Islam will definitely put it under the watch of the Belgian intelligence service, especially since there has been close cooperation between European intelligence services recently in tracking down religious extremist networks.

In response to the MPs’ inquiries, Justice Minister Wanson Van Quickenborn said that he “understands the concern” about this organization, which has re-emerged from Brussels, and promised to awaken the Belgian state.

The minister explained, “Even if there are links between this organization and the organization that was dissolved in France, the state security (intelligence service) indicates that the association has not yet developed any activity on Belgian soil, and it is certain that the state security apparatus will devote the necessary attention to this association.” If it will develop activities in our country, justice will intervene as it should. “

Re-spread

And the steps of the French President Macron’s administration are accelerating towards an open confrontation with the so-called “political Islam” trend internally and externally, especially the French branch of the Brotherhood organization and organizations close to Turkey, after decisions to dissolve “Barakat City”, “the gathering against Islamophobia in France” and “the Sheikh’s gathering.” Ahmed Yassin”.

And the French Interior Minister had previously announced during a parliamentary session that the authorities had closed 73 mosques, a private school and a commercial shop since the beginning of this year, for reasons related to “fighting extremism.”

Ramy Talag, a researcher in political science at the University of Paris Est, said in an interview with Sky News Arabia that “organizations linked to political Islam, especially the Muslim Brotherhood, are trying to adapt to the difficulties of the stage they are living in in France after the Macron administration announced a radical campaign against Islamist separatism. By not engaging in a clash with the authorities, and by looking for organizational and financial alternatives to preserve the organization’s activity and its civil, commercial and religious branches.

Al-Talag concluded his speech by saying: “This pragmatism and the desire to avoid clashes appear in the steps taken by the Union of Muslims of France – the new name of the Union of Islamic Organizations, which is the Brotherhood branch in France – especially with regard to signing without reservation the Charter of the Principles of Islam, which was established by the Council of Islamic Religion in agreement with The official authorities, despite the fact that the charter explicitly condemns political Islam and the Muslim Brotherhood, a step steeped in political piety reveals a great pragmatism with which the Brotherhood deals with the difficult phase that the Islamic currents are going through in France.