known as a proponent of “Bucailleism“, the belief that “the. Qur’an prophesied the Big InterculturalHealth.pdf. 29 nccri.ie/pdf/EBulletin-March08.pdf.
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11SYNOPSISDespite a relatively small Muslim population, Ireland has become an important center for the Global Muslim Brotherhood in Europe. Two organizations, the Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland (ICCI), funded by a foundation controlled by the ruling family of Dubai, and the Muslim Association of Ireland (MAI) have strong ties to each other and to the Federation of Islamic Organizations of Europe (FIOE), essentially the Muslim Brotherhood of Europe. ˜e ICCI and its leaders have a history of support for fundamen -talism, religious intolerance, and terrorism while the MAI has a history of Palestinian and anti-Israeli activism. Despite this record, the Irish Muslim Brotherhood enjoys good rela -tions with the Irish government. BACKGROUND Previous reports have detailed the structure of the Global Muslim Brotherhood in Belgium and the Netherlands. 1 2 ˜e presence of the global Brotherhood is in those countries not surprising given the relatively large number of Muslims residing there. More surprising is the importance of Ireland to the global Muslim Brotherhood, especially considering the meager Irish Muslim population estimated at only 0.76 percent (32,539). 3 ˜is population has been described as diverse with no particular ethnicity dominating. Compared with the Muslim populations of France and Germany, how -ever, the majority of Irish Muslims are said to come from at least upper middle class backgrounds and have had a relatively high level of education. Typical professions include doctors, engineers, and businessmen, pro˚les consistent with those who historically support the Muslim Brotherhood. ˜e Muslim presence in Ireland began in the early 1950™s and was largely comprised of students from South Africa followed by Muslim students from India, Malaysia and the Gulf states, many coming to study medicine at the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin. 4 5 As their numbers increased, Irish Muslims began to form organizations begin -ning in January 1959 with the creation of the Dublin Islamic 1 ˜e term figlobal Muslim Brotherhoodfl is used to denote the worldwide network of individuals and organizations that developed as Muslim Brotherhood members dispersed to other countries while ˛eeing the periodic crackdowns on the organi -zation in Egypt Society. In subsequent years and with the ˚nancial assistance of Islamic countries, a new mosque on Dublin™s Harrington Street mosque was opened in 1976 and a new building was purchased in 1985 at 163 South Circular Rd. 6 Participating in the Dublin Islamic Society since at least 1983 was Yaya Muhammad Al-Hussein, a Sudanese immigrant who became the leader of the Society whose name was changed in 1990 to the Islamic Foundation of Ireland (I.F.I). 2 7 By the 1990™s, Ireland was in the midst of an economic boom that was attracting Muslim migrants with professional quali -˚cations and Arab investment in Irish beef production and horse breeding was taking place as well. One source reports that as a result, fithe need emerged for an Islamic Centre that could cope with the growing Muslim population satisfying their needs in terms of education, socialization, integration and recreation.fl 8 In 1992, funds were obtained from the ruling family of Dubai and a major new Islamic complex was completed and inaugurated in 1996 known as the Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland (ICCI), discussed later in this report as a major center of the global Muslim Brotherhood. ˜e largest proportion of Irish Muslims today are Sunni Arabs residing in Dublin where they are largely represented by the IFI and ICCI. 9 Other Islamic organizations have also been created that, together with the ICCI, comprise the global Muslim Brotherhood in Ireland. Unlike most other European countries, the Irish government appears to have developed a close relationship with these Brotherhood organizations. For example, in September 2007 Minister of State for Integration Conor Lenihan spoke at a Ramadan ceremony at the ICCI mosque where his remarks were described as follows: fi Noting that Muslims were among the oldest of our newer immigrant groups, in that members of the community had been here for fi20/30fl years, he said such longevity had allowed for the development of fia very special relationshipfl between them and Irish society but also, through them, between Ireland and the wider and very diverse Muslim world. 2 One source in Ireland claimed that Mr. Hussein had a background in the Muslim Brotherhood but this could not be con˚rmed.
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2 Many of the Irish Muslim Brotherhood leaders described below were in the audience. ISLAMIC CULTURAL CENTRE OF IRELAND FOUNDINGIn 1992, Sheikh Hamdan Ben Rashid Al-Maktoum, Deputy Governor of Dubai and Minister of Finance & Industry in the United Arab Emirates, agreed to fund new facilities for the Dublin Muslim community. 10 11 12 A 4-acre site in Clonskeagh, South Dublin, was purchased with a £5 million donation from the Maktoum family and included a training- center, which in 1993 became the location of the Muslim National School. 3 Later on, Sheikh Hamdan agreed to spon -sor the construction of a Mosque and Islamic Centre on the same site. Work started on the new Mosque and Centre in 1994 and was completed in 1996. ˜e Irish President, Mary Robinson, opened the new mosque and cultural center in Dublin on 14 November 1996. An Irish Islamic website describes a controversy which arose over the control of ICCI that began seven months after completion of the project: fi ˜e new premises of the Mosque and Islamic Centre was given to the Islamic Foundation of Ireland (which supervised it™s construction) and lease was signed for thirty ˚ve years giving the Islamic Foundation the right to run it. So, in e˛ect the Islamic Foundation ran both Mosques in Dublin, the old Mosque and New Mosque. However, after the passage of seven months the Islamic Foundation of Ireland was asked to abandon it™s right in the lease of the property and reassign it to the newly formed Al-Maktoum Foundation (formed in 1997.) ˜is move caused division and unnecessary trouble in the community. Although the reassign -ment of the lease to the Al-Maktoum Foundation has not been done as yet, the headquarters of the Islamic Foundation returned to the old Mosque in Dublin. ˜e Islamic Cultural Centre is now run by the Al-Maktoum Foundation (all of it™s Directors are from the United Arab Emirates.) ˜is is done 3 Irish media reported that the funds were came from the Mak -toum™s personal funds and the three Maktoum brothers already had property interests in Ireland, horse breeding facilities in particular.. See fiIslam goes Southsidefl ˜e Irish Times May 11, 1996, CITY EDITION. through a local committee, which is chosen by the Al-Maktoum Foundation. 13Local sources con˚rm the controversy saying that a repre -sentative of the Maktoum family felt that the Yaya Hussein of the IFI was not a fitrained clericfl and preferred to bring in somebody who he felt was more quali˚ed. 4 14 ˜ese sources also state that the Maktoums purchased the ICCI lease for a large amount of money. 5ICCI TODAY ˜e ICCI is located in Clonskeagh, a southern suburb of Dublin and primar -ily a residential area with a population consisting in large part of Muslim immigrants mainly from the Persian Gulf countries. ˜e ICCI facility consists of a multi-building complex adjacent to a large wooded/open area and contains a mosque, sometimes referred to as the Clonskeagh mosque, placed in the center of the complex. A newspaper article from March reported over 1000 worshippers at the mosque for Friday prayers. 15 ˜e ICCI facility also houses a seminar room, library, mortuary, self-service restaurant, ˚tness centre, bookshop, and matrimonial facility. Another section is dedicated for accommodation consisting of 10 apartments of di˝erent sizes. ˜e ICCI also houses the Muslim National School, a state- funded primary school which was established by the Islamic Foundation of Ireland and following the national curriculum. ˜e school is said to have an fiIslamic ethosfl with the pupils being taught the Qur™an, Arabic and Religious Studies and a local newspaper reported that 200 of the 275 students do not speak English as a ˚rst language. 16 17 ˜e same article refers to unidenti˚ed problems with the school management board in 2005. ˜e Nur Al-Huda Qur™anic School is also a˙liated with the ICCI and ICCI leaders are involved with an inter -faith school known as the Intercultural Interdenominational Primary School (IIPS). 18 194 ˜e new ICCI imam, Hussein Halawa, will be discussed later in this report. 5 Ownership of the ICCI land could not be determined but it should be noted that Yaya Hussein still resides on the property which may indicate that the IFI still controls the ICCI lease.
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3Activities at ICCI have included numerous conferences and events including interfaith events. 20 ˜e ICCI operates several Dawa (preaching/conversion) programs including Arabic lessons, translation of the Koran into Gaelic, and simultaneous translation of brief sermons and preaching during Ramadan prayers. 21 22 23 A 2001 ICCI publication indicates that that various dignitaries had been received at the facility including the Ambassadors of Palestine and Egypt as well as George Galloway, the far-left British MP noted for his anti-Israeli positions. 24From its inception, the ICCI has enjoyed good relations with the Irish government and as discussed above, its opening was attended by the Irish President. More recently, the ICCI was known to have been visited by the Irish President in 2006 and by a former President in 2007. 25 26 ˜e Irish Taoiseach has also recently included the ICCI in interfaith discussions. 6 27 In addition, the ICCI has been consulted by various Irish governmental commissions including those on health and discrimination. 7 28 29 FUNDINGAs already discussed, the ICCI is operated by the Al Maktoum Foundation whose website says was founded in 1997 at the ICCI before moving its headquarters to Dubai two years later. 30 ˜e Al Maktoum Foundation has operations in more than sixty countries and in November 2003, Islamic centers in Rotterdam, Scotland, South India, Georgetown and Pennsylvania, and mosques in Sweden, Boston and Frankfurt were among the new projects being undertaken by the Foundation. 31 ˜e Al Maktoum Foundation is also known to have provided funding for the Europe Trust, the endowment/funding arm of the Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe (FIOE), representing the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe. 32 ˜e Al Maktoum Foundation is registered in Rotterdam where it is related to the contro -versial Essalam Mosque and where, as discussed later, ICCI Executive Director Nooh Al-Kaddo is a Trustee. 33 34 ˜e Al Maktoum Foundation is also registered in Scotland where it supports the Al-Maktoum Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies. 35 36 6 ˜e Taoiseach is roughly equivalent to a Prime Minister. 7 ˜e ICCI also maintains relationships with a large number of Irish NGO™s, which will not be detailed here. ˜e Al Maktoum Foundation is currently also registered in Ireland as a Limited company with an address at the ICCI. 37 As of September 2006, ˜e Foundation was also regis -tered as an Irish charity with Irish tax authorities. 38 As of October 2007 Foundation directors included Dr. Al-Kaddo, Mirza Al Sayegh as the Representative of Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum as well as other individuals with UAE addresses. 39As of December 2007, the Al Maktoum Foundation reported a turnover of 2,361,000 British pounds, presum -ably representing the budget of the ICCI, and net assets of 69,000 British pounds. 40 A local media report indicates that the ICCI was involved with funding at least one other Irish Islamic center identi˚ed as the Cavan Islamic Society. 41IRISH COUNCIL OF IMAMSIn September 2006, local media announced the formation of the Irish Council of Imams (ICI), headed by ICCI Imam Hussein Halawa: 8fi A Muslim representative body unique in Europe, the Irish Council of Imams, was launched in Dublin yesterday. Representing all 14 imams in Ireland, of both the Sunni and Shia traditions, it will have the authority to speak on relevant issues on behalf of the estimated 40,000 Muslims in the State.˜e council is a theological body whose objectives, as well as giving the Muslim view on events in Ireland, will also include the formation of a specialised o˝cial Muslim body to give the Islamic verdict on topical issues in Ireland. 42˜e ICI is strongly associated with the ICCI. ˜e ICI is registered at the ICCI address and in 2008, Irish phone records listed the ICI at the same address as the ICCI. 43 44As discussed later, the ICI General-Secretary Ali Selim is a pri -vate secretary to Hussein Halawa and a resident theologian at ICCI. 8 At the time, some media reports suggested that the ICI was set up to counter the Supreme Muslim Council of Ireland (SMCI), head by South African imam Shaheed Satardien, who told local media in August 2006 that Ireland was becoming a fifundamen -talist havenfl and that fian ocean of extremismfl was spreading among Muslims throughout Ireland.
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4LEADERSHIP1. NOOH AL-KADDO (ICCI DIRECTOR) Dr. Nooh Edreeb Al-Kaddo was born January 21, 1953 and was originally from Baghdad, Iraq. 45 46 An on-line bio states that he has an MBA and a PHD in Public Administration from the University of Liverpool and was a management consultant and trainer in the Human Resources Development section of the London o˙ce of the International Institute of Islamic ˜ought (IIIT). 47 In 1996, Dr. Al-Kaddo was one of the founders of a U.K. management consulting company, which said it had clients in Europe, Middle East and Far East.fl 48 49 Media articles indicate that Dr. Al-Kaddo lived in the UK for 17 years before moving to Ireland from Liverpool in 1997 in order to take up work at the ICCI. 50 Dr. Al-Kaddo was an active opponent of the 2003 Iraq war and was a founding member and spokesperson for the Irish fiMuslims 4 Peace and Justice.fl 9 51 52 He was reported to have traveled to Iraq three times since the fall of Saddam Hussein and in an April 2004 statement to the media, he appeared to defend insurgent activity in Fallujah commenting on the burning and mutilating of American contractors: 53fi Yes, it is right to defend yourself but to burn those people was not acceptable. I was shocked. I was not expecting that. 54Dr. Al-Kaddo is currently the Executive Director of the ICCI and a director of the Al Maktoum Foundation Ireland. 55 56 He is also listed in corporate records as the Executive Director of the ICCI-a˙liated Intercultural Interdenominational Primary School Limited described in media reports as the planned fi˚rst tridemoniminational religious schoolfl in Europe. 57 58 Since March 2000, Dr. Al-Kaddo has also been a member of the board of the Stichting Moskee Essalam, responsible for the mosque that was funded by the Al Maktoum Foundation. 59Dr. Al-Kaddo has numerous ties to the global Muslim Brotherhood. He plays an important role with the Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe (FIOE) that was dis -cussed in an earlier NEFA report and essentially comprises 9 Dr. Al-Kaddo has also acknowledged having relatives in Mosul and Baghdad Iraq and in one media report asserted that one of his relatives in Iraq might have been tortured at Abu Ghraib. the global Muslim Brotherhood in Europe. 60 Dr. Al-Kaddo has served as FIOE Head of Planning and Senior Advisor for the FIOE Development Programme. 61 62 He is currently listed in U.K. corporate records as a director of both the Europe Trust and the Europe Trust Property Enterprises Limited (EPTE), representing the funding arm of FIOE. 63 64 Dr. Al-Kaddo is also associated with organizations that are part of the international network of charities known as the Union of Good (UG). As discussed in an earlier NEFA report, the UG is headed by global Muslim Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi and serves to raise funds for Hamas. ˜ese organizations will be discussed later in this report. In addition, as noted above, Dr. Al-Kaddo was formerly a management consultant and trainer in the Human Resources Development section of the London o˙ce of the International Institute of Islamic ˜ought (IIIT), a part of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood. 65Dr. Al-Kaddo appears to have at least three children who are involved with organizations and causes associated with the global Muslim Brotherhood. For example, Ibrahim Al-Kaddo was active in the 2003 Irish antiwar movement as well as the Socialist Worker™s Party, a far-left UK group often aligned with the Muslim Association of Britain, also associ -ated with the Muslim Brotherhood. 66 67 68 A 2005 website identi˚es Ibrahim Al-Kaddo as head of the Irish chapter of the Federation of Student Islamic Societies in the UK and Ireland (FOSIS), closely associated with the Muslim Association of Britain and the Muslim Brotherhood. 69 2. HUSSEIN MOHAMMED HALAWA (IMAM) Hussein Halawa was born in Cairo, Egypt in 1956. 70 In a newspaper interview, he said that he started memorizing the Koran when he was ˚ve years old and after ˚nishing secondary school in Egypt at 19, he started giving lectures and delivering sermons as well as teaching in private schools. 71 Halawa™s online biogra -phy says that he went on to obtain a Bachelor of ˜eology from Al-Azhar University and his MA and Ph.D. in Islamic studies at the International Islamic University – Islamabad. 72 He told a newspaper interviewer that it was fiprobably my love of travelfl and his visits to other countries that led him to come to live in Ireland. 73 A newspa -per interview suggests he came to Ireland in 1995. 74
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6in Dublin. 85 86 At least six meetings of the ECFR are known to have been held in Dublin from 1998-2003. An ICCI publication states that the ICCI is the o˙cial examination center of the European College for Islamic Studies in France, likely the same organization known as the Institut Européen des Sciences Humaines -, the theological training facility of the FIOE. 87 ˜e same publication reports that ICCI cooperated in organizing youth leadership conferences with the FIOE youth department and that the ICCI cooperated with FIOE to sponsor a conference titled fiMuslims of Europe in the aftermath of the 11 th September Crisis.fl 2. INTERNATIONAL UNION OF MUSLIM SCHOLARS ˜e International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS) was launched on July 11, 2004 in conjunction with a visit by Youssef Qaradawi to London for a meeting of the ECFR. ˜e IUMS characterized Qaradawi™s comments on the founding as follows: fi In his opening address before the founding confer -ence Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi stressed that the fall of the Islamic caliphate ended any uni˚ed refer -ence for all Muslims. About the aim of the IUMS, Sheikh Al-Qaradawi said that it aims at creating an international Islamic reference for all Muslims that oversteps local juristic assemblies. 88˜e IUMS was listed in Irish corporate records at the ICCI address but in dissolution. 89 ˜e IUMS website, however, continues to list Dublin, Ireland as the fiMain Headquartersfl of the IUMS. 90 According to the IUMS website, the orga -nization has a board of 41 members chaired by Youssef Qaradawi and which includes many known leaders of the global Muslim Brotherhood such as Faisal Malawi, Jamal Badawi, and Essam Al-Bashir. 91ICCI has also co-sponsored two important conferences with the AMSSUK, a network of Muslim social scientists that is closely related to the International Institute of Islamic ˜ough UK. In September 2000, the AMSS UK and ICCI cosponsored a conference titled fiMUSLIMS OF EUROPE IN THE NEW MILLENIUMfl that included Tariq Ramadan, Taher Al-Alwani, and other Muslim Brotherhood leaders. 92 In September 2002, the AMSSUK and the ICI cosponsored a conference titled fiMuslim Education in Europefl that included an even larger number of global Muslim Brotherhood leaders including Tariq Ramadan, Ibrahim El-Zayat, AbdulHamid AbuSulayman, and Ahmed Jaballah. 934. ICCI CONFERENCES, LECTURES, COURSES, AND DEBATES ˜e ICCI has also held its own conferences featuring speakers from the global Muslim Brotherhood. Examples included a March 2002 conference titled fi˜e Environment: ˜e Endangered Speciesfl which featured Jamal Badawi and an October 2007 conference titled fiOur Children–Hopes & Realitiesfl which featured Sheikh Wagdy Ghoneim and Saudi Sheikh Salman Al-Awda. 94 Over the years, the ICCI has sponsored a large number of leaders of the global Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas through lectures, courses, and debates. ˜ey have included: 95Youssef Qaradawi Qatar (Most important leader of the Global Muslim Brotherhood, ECFR) Faisal Mawlawi Lebanon (Muslim Brotherhood) Abdullah Bin Bayyah Saudi Arabia (ECFR) Zhagoul El-Naggar Egypt Jamal Badawi Canada (Islamic Society of North America) Shaker El-Sayed USA (Muslim American Society) Esam Al Bashir Sudan Mouhammad Siyam Possibly the late Hamas leader Daud Abduallah U.K. (Muslim Council of Britain) Dilwar Hussein U.K. (Islamic Foundation) Ahmed Assal Pakistan (International Islamic University) FUNDAMENTALISM ˜e ICCI and its leaders appear to support the implementa -tion of the Shariah (Islamic Law) in Ireland: In July 2004, local media reported that the Alliance Irish Bank (AIB) had begun talks with the ICCI, described as flthe representative body for Ireland™s 20,000-plus Islamic communityfl to supply tailor-made mortgage deals for prospective Muslim homeowners. 96 In February, local media reported on an initiative sup -ported by the ICCI to set up Sharia-based councils for family problems: 97
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7 In May, local media reported that the ICCI called for a national policy to be introduced allowing the hijab to be worn in all schools in Ireland. 98 In February 2006 ICCI leaders called the Danish car -toons fian attack on our prophet, an attack on our faith and suggested that freedom of speech should be limited in such cases. 99ICCI theologian Ali Selim attracted a great deal of local media attention in September 2006 when he told a news -paper interviewer that, ideally, he would like to see Shariah law adopted in Ireland in the fievent of a Muslim majority.fl 100 Along the same lines, Mr. Selim said in 2006 that reli -gious law should be imposed over secular law if the majority wished that.101 In October 2007, a local blogger reported that in a media interview, Mr. Selim refused to condemn a Saudi punishment of 200 lashes of a Saudi woman who was gang-raped, claiming that it is a domestic a˝air of the Saudi state and that he fihadn™t seen any good news reports about it anyway.fl 102PLOTS AND CONSPIRACIES ˜ere is evidence to suggest that the ICCI promotes a world -view in which Muslims are the victims of various plots and conspiracies. In February 2006, Hussein Halawa told Islamic media that a media campaign led by unidenti˚ed enemies of Muslims was behind the Danish cartoons: fi I would like to stress that the caricatures, which have caused anger across the Muslim world since they were published in Denmark™s Jyllands-Posten last September and were reprinted in many European capitals, are one of the single measures within a sys -tematic media campaign that aims at tarnishing the image of Islam. ˜is media campaign is led by the people whose keen interest is to deteriorate the rela -tions between Muslims and people of other religions. ˜at is why we see them, from time to time, publish -ing provocative statements, books, laws, and lately cartoons that are no more than an extra measure within a larger context. 103In April 2006, Halawa told the same Islamic media that terror -ists were fipaid agentsfl of the fienemiesfl of Muslim countries: fi Moreover, I would like to stress that those who attack non-Muslim civilians in Muslim countries such as those who masterminded the recent attacks in Egypt are either paid agents or else people who are ignorant of the religion of Islam. I am more inclined to consider them as paid agents because if we ponder over the similar attacks and bombings that took place in Egypt in the last two years we will notice that they correspond to certain national events. ˜is gives us the clue that ˚ngers of accusation are pointing at the hidden hands of the enemies of Egypt as well as other Muslim countries who are mainly targeting the security and stability of those countries. In October 2006, Ali Selim suggested that there were con -spiratorial forces behind the 911 attacks: fi –history, de˚nitely, will prove to us that those people were not the only ones involved in 9/11. ˜at, in actual fact, there™s a wider circle that™s under the shade so we can™t see it at the moment. It™s such a very complicated issue, you see. So to be convinced that only those people did it is very di˝cult. ˜ey were involved in it Œ nobody can deny that. But they can™t have been on their own. Who are the others? ˜at™s the question that time will answer. 104Mr. Selim also told the interviewer that he had seen no proof that Muslims carried out the July 2006 London bombings, suggesting that videotapes of the bombers might have been faked and that he was not aware that they were identi˚ed by their own families. RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE ˜e ICCI has promoted at least three individuals associated with anti-Semitism. ˜e ICCI has featured an appearance(s) by Zaghloul El-Naggar, an Egyptian with a long background with the Muslim Brotherhood. 105 Dr. El-Naggar is best known as a proponent of fiBucailleismfi, the belief that fithe Qur™an prophesied the Big Bang theory, space travel and other contemporary scienti˚c breakthroughs.fl 106 Dr. El-Naggar has also published anti-Semitic materials promoted on his website including a book entitled fi˜e Plot: Milestones in Zionist and World Subversion of the Palestinian People. 107On at least two occasions, the ICCI has invited Egyptian preacher Wagdy Ghoneim to speak at ICCI events includ -ing its October 2007 annual conference. 108 109 During a Brooklyn College conference sponsored by the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood on May 24, 1998, Mr. Ghoneim led anti-Semitic chanting referring to Jews as fiDescendants of the Apes.fl 110 Mr. Ghoneim, a former Imam at the Islamic Institute of Orange County, left the United States in December 2004 rather than be expelled for immigration violations. Local
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8media reported that Mr. Ghoneim was suspected of having ties to terrorist fundraising activities. 111˜e ICCI also promotes the works of Harun Yahya, the pen name for Turkish author Adnan Oktar. 112 113 Oktar is probably best described as an Islamic ficreationistfl but is also known for his anti-Semitic writings including those, which promote Holocaust denial. 114 115 Although an Israel research institute reported in 2004 that Oktar had fiundergone a change and become more tolerant toward Jewsfl, his o˙cial biography contains statements that suggest anti-Semitism and his work titled fiWhat Should a Moslem™s View of the People of the Book and Zionism Be?fl, currently posted on his website, re˛ects anti-Semitic themes common to the Muslim Brotherhood. 116 117 118In addition to anti-Semitism, the ICCI has been linked to anti-Shia activity. Time Magazine reported in April 2008 that according to local Shiites, relations between the Dublin Sunni and Shia communities deteriorated as Shi™ites gained power in Baghdad, growing worse as the sectarian con˛ict in Iraq became more violent. 119 ˜e report recounted an incident concerning the son of a Shia imam who had been taunted as an fiin˚delfl at the ICCI-operated Muslim National School. Dr. Imam Ali Saleh, a Najaf-born Shi™ite scholar and Dublin religious leader has reported that he has personal knowledge of anti-Shia comments made by speakers at the ICCI. 120 It should also be noted that in October 2007, the ICCI invited Saudi Sheikh Salman Al-Awda to speak at its annual confer -ence. 121 At the time, Dr. Al Saleh said the cleric had recently written an article in a Saudi newspaper describing Shias as finon-Muslimsfl. 122ICCI AND TERRORISMWhile the ICCI o˙cially condemned the September 11 attacks and other Jihadist violence, at least one ICCI leader appears to have taken a more ambivalent attitude toward ter -rorism. In October 2006, ICCI theologian Ali Selim claimed he was unaware of any Muslims calling for Jihad against the West. 123 Mr. Selim went on to say that he had fino opinionfl about Osama Bin Laden: fi I can™t reach a conclusion about [Osama Bin Laden], because I haven™t seen the man himself. I have just seen him on the screen and I™ve read what a lot of people have written and said about him, but I need to hear from the man in order to judge him. But in fact, even what we see on the screen, we then hear in a month™s time somebody coming up and saying, ‚Oh, that was fake, that was not Osama Bin Laden, that was another person™, blah, blah, blah. But if I see him face to face and speak to him, I™ll be in a better position to judge [laughs]. Also, as noted earlier in the report, the ICCI invited Saudi Sheikh Salman Al-Awda to speak at is 2007 annual confer -ence and was one of 26 Saudi clerics to declare in 2004 that it was a religious duty to ˚ght US troops in Iraq Evidence also suggests connections between ICCI and Hamas: In March 2004, the ICCI co-sponsored a demon -stration at the Israeli Embassy to protest the killing of Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassine. 124 In April, the ICCI called the killing of Hamas leader Dr. Abdul Aziz Rantisi fibrutal savagery, the like of which has never been seen in the past or present historyfl 125A 2001 ICCI publication presents photos of fiexhibitions on ‚Intifadafl and charity bazaars in support of the Palestinian People. 126 During a site visit to the ICCI facility in November 2008, a collection box marked fiPalestinefl was observed out -side the ICCI mosque. 127As noted above, on two recent occasions the ICCI spon -sored speaking appearances by Egyptian preacher Wagdy Ghoneim. Local media describes Mr. Ghoneim as an Egyptian cleric who has been denied entrance to Canada and Switzerland because of his alleged links to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. 128 One Swiss media report stated that Mr. Ghoneim had been expelled from the U.S in connection with extremism and in Italy had defended suicide attackers and asserted that fithe destiny of all the men is to become Moslem, if not they will become like cats or micefl. 129ICCI leaders also have connections to Hamas. As noted ear -lier in this report, ICCI imam Hussein Halawa was described as a ficlose friendfl of Youssef Qaradawi who is sometimes described as a spiritual leader of Hamas and is responsible for the fatwas, or religious rulings, that authorized suicide bombings directed against Israeli civilians. 130ICCI Executive Director Noah Al-Kaddo has been listed as an o˙cer in three U.K organizations that in turn are part of the Union of Good, identi˚ed earlier as a worldwide
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9consortium of charities led by Youssef Qaradawi that helps to raise funds for Hamas. In 2004, a business database listed Dr. Al-Kaddo as the CEO of Human Appeal International (HAI), the UK branch of a charity founded in 1984 and based in the UAE. 131 U.S and Israeli governments have reported that HAI has had a close relationship to Hamas and has provided payments to a Hamas-related charity in the PA-administrated territories. 132133 In 2003, HAI was listed as part of the Union of the Good. 134 U.K. records also list Dr. Al-Kaddo as a Trustee of the Human Relief Foundation (HRF), a UK based charity with o˙ces in the London, Glasgow, Iraq (Baghdad and Mosul), Kashmir, Pakistan, Sudan and Jordan. 135 136 137 ˜e HRF annual reports provide an itemized list of donors many of whom are associ -ated with the global Muslim Brotherhood. 138 HRF has been a member of the Union of Good since the inception of that organization and is currently listed as a member organiza -tion. 139 140 In 2004, U.K. Company records also list Dr. Al-Kaddo as the Director of Orphan. com registered at the same address as HAI and also part of the Union of Good. 141Finally, the ICCI has pro -moted speaking appearances by Azzam Tamimi. Dr. Tamimi is a leader in the U.K. Muslim Brotherhood and is closely associated with Hamas.142 MUSLIM ASSOCIATION OF IRELAND FOUNDINGFour of the founders of the Muslim Association of Ireland (MAI) had been directors of an earlier organization known as the Irish Islamic Association (IIA) that was registered as a Limited Company on August 2, 2000 and dissolved on June 7, 2002. 143 144 Mansour K. Sheleg, one such IIA director and identi˚ed as a medical student, listed his address at the ICCI and the ICCI was also listed as the registered o˙ce of the IIA. ˜e Muslim Association of Ireland (MAI) was created in 2001 and the address of the MAI head o˙ce was the same as the last address of the IIA as listed in Irish company records. 145 According to an archived MAI webpage, the organization had its origins as a student society at the University College Dublin, consistent with the identity of the IIA founders. 146 According to an MAI Draft Constitution, the MAI was de˚ned as: fi An Islamic gathering, which aims to provide welfare for the Muslim community in Ireland and to introduce the principles and noble values of Islam to the Irish society. It is a member of the Federation of Islamic organizations of Europe. 147˜e administrative structures speci˚ed in the draft con -stitution are consistent with other Muslim Brotherhood organizations and include a General Assembly, Shura Council, and Departments of Dawa, Youth and Students, Media and Information, Public Relations, Education, and Women. 10MAI TODAY ˜e MAI cur-rently describes itself as fia com -munity-based, independent non-profit organization funded by contributions from members of our com -munity and as of 2005, the MAI was registered with the Irish Registrar of Friendly Societies. 11148149 ˜e organization has had at least three addresses and the MAI has indicated that unidenti˚ed rental problems have forced it to move. 150 ˜e current MAI location is in an unmarked unit at the Greenhills Business Centre in Tallaght, the largest town and county seat of South Dublin County and an area with the highest concentration of Muslims in Dublin. 12 ˜e most recent annual MAI report from 2007 states that the MAI had 60 members while MAI Executive Director Adam Argiag says there are currently 70 members and some 300 people of many nationalities use the facilities mention -ing in particular Arabs, Pakistanis, Nigerians, Russians, Bangladeshis, Kurds and Tanzanians. 151 152˜e majority, however, are Libyans according to Mr. Argiag. 10 ˜is is similar to the administrative structure of the FIOE. 11 ˜e Irish Registrar of Friendly Societies is the Irish authority for ficooperative associations.fl 12 MAI is sometimes referred to as the Tallaght Mosque.
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