European Parliament resolution on countering 'Islamist entryism' strongly condemned

A group of civil society organisations has strongly condemned a European Parliament resolution that calls for a European Union strategy to “counter Islamist entryism” and links youth and activist groups to the Muslim Brotherhood without evidence. On Thursday, the European Parliament, one of the EU’s two legislative bodies, debated “the need for an EU strategy to counter Islamist entryism and the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood network”. The parliament passed a resolution by 381 votes to 167, urging EU countries to provide information to help assess whether individuals and organisations supposedly linked to the Muslim Brotherhood and “affiliated networks” meet the criteria for terrorist designation. Led by an alliance of MEPs from the far right and centre right, including the European People’s Party and Renew, the 10-page resolution calls on the European Commission to provide a “comprehensive overview” of all EU funds delivered to entities accused of being affiliated with the Brotherhood. This accusation has been roundly rejected as false by some of the groups named in the resolution, which has been condemned as Islamophobic and undemocratic. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters In a statement co-authored with eight other groups, the Forum of European Muslim Youth and Student Organisations (Femyso), a Brussels-based network representing 32 Muslim youth organisations across 22 European countries, said the resolution represented a highpoint for “Islamophobic attacks on civil society”. Femyso, which has received EU funding, said in the jointly authored statement that the resolution “plans to discredit, defund and censor civil society”. False accusations Femyso is accused in the resolution - alongside other groups such as the European Network Against Racism, Islamic Relief Worldwide and the Collective Against Islamophobia in Europe - of having links to the Muslim Brotherhood and of using EU funding and platforms to promote political Islam under the cover of diversity, inclusion and anti-discrimination. The groups rejected these accusations. Together, these large civil society networks represent more than 170 youth, student, and anti-racism organisations working, they said in their statement, “to empower marginalised groups, facilitate access to fundamental rights, and encourage participation in decision-making processes”. The statement condemning the resolution was also signed by #DiasporaVote!, the End FGM European Network, Equinox Initiative for Racial Justice, Eurocentralasian Lesbian* Community, the European Civic Forum, and the Federation of Young European Greens. They said that Thursday’s resolution contradicted EU values “of non-discrimination and equality enshrined in the Treaty on European Union”, and that they risked “contributing to the criminalisation of millions of people living in Europe based on their perceived religious affiliation and/or origin”. Who gets to be Italian? The rise and rise of Islamophobia in Italy Read More » “Moreover, they add to the wider phenomenon of systematic marginalisation, scapegoating and deliberate exclusion of European Muslims from democratic life which has fuelled an alarming rise in hatred and violence in the past few years,” the groups said. The resolution comes at a time when anti-racist organisations across Europe are operating in an increasingly hostile environment. The United Arab Emirates, which views the Muslim Brotherhood as a direct threat to its monarchical rule, has backed a campaign against the organisation. Right-wing, pro-Israel European parties have followed suit, seeking to criminalise what the European Parliament resolution calls “Islamist entryism”. In their statement, the nine civil society groups opposing the resolution called on the EU to reject any calls to criminalise or discredit Muslim civil society organisations packaged as a “strategy to counter Islamist entryism”. They said the institutions of the EU needed to reiterate their commitment to EU values, “in particular Articles 2 and 11 of the Treaty on European Union”.