Why is the Brotherhood’s tide in Europe heading towards Paris?

‘Gilles de Kerchove’, the EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator, at the beginnings of September, warned that about 35,000 extremists live in UK, while 17,000 are in France. He said that this “horrifying” number shocked the Europeans and impelled them to ask: “from where did all those come?”

Actually, these numbers are close to reality, particularly if the European continent is now an incubator for the Islamic thinking since it opened its doors before the Brotherhood members, particularly West Germany since 1950s, after fleeing from the control of political regimes in Egypt and Syria. The Brotherhood members, after arriving to Europe, managed to build an expansive network of charities, mosques and Islamic organizations that turned by time into entities, recognized by governments that preferred to sit with them as representatives of Muslims in their societies.

Although these organizations and associations are suspected, being propagators for extreme thoughts, adopted by their members, or collectors of donations for armed organizations that work in the Middle East region. Yet, they moderately address Western media or Ministries in their letters, using soundly pronounced English, French and Italian, something that is widely accepted by government officials.

This acceptance was clear, for example, during the electoral campaign of the now French President ‘Emmanuel Macron’, when his competitor, the far-right political party candidate, ‘Marine Le Pen’, attacked him, revealing a relation that linked him with the Union of Islamic Organizations of France (UIOF), which is known for being affiliated to the Brotherhood. ‘Le Pen’ inferred her claim based on UIOF’s support of ‘Macron’ and calls to vote for him to stop the threat of Ms. Le Pen’s thoughts.

Why this support?

This support can be grasped against the political backdrop of the French President ‘Emmanuel Macron’, who is characterized by moderation. This was used against him by his opponents, alleging that he tolerates with “Islamic extremism”. ‘Macron’ responded to these accusations, stressing that the foreign policy of his country during his rule will be governed  by fighting Islamic extremists.

As the standards of extremism are not precisely and well determined, extremist Islamic organizations, glossed over by moderation, found an opportunity to spread into the French society. This includes UIOF, which includes 250 Islamic associations, scattered all over the French cities, and follows the Brotherhood. Although UIOF showed up in past January to negate its relations with the Brotherhood, fearing the fate of ban, simultaneously with US Administration moves to join the Brotherhood and its affiliated organizations into “terroristic entities list”, such negation implies assertions for the historical connection between the Brotherhood and UIOF, particularly if the Union was founded in 1983 through finances of the Brotherhood businessmen, thanks to the naivety of diplomatic politicians who welcomed UIOF organizations and deemed it the first representative of Muslims in France.

MB march to France

Recently, and with Macron’s assuming rule, UIOF intensifies its moves recently. But does this mean that it aims to be the launch point for the Brotherhood in Europe? And what about London, the key host of the Brotherhood?

For long decades, UK preferred to host the Middle Eastern Islamists for reasons including pulling down their power and using them to stir the political scenes inside Arab States. However, this hosting turned in the present time to be a direct threat for Britain, after it has become one of the most important targets for extremists. At the same time, and pursuant to European reports, UK shelters 35,000 extremists, most of whom are unknown for the British security bodies. This indicates that terroristic operations in Britain tend to increase, not the contrary.

This finding points out that UK may work to restrict the moves of Islamists to limit terroristic operations, under the actions UIOF is now taking. This can explain that the Brotherhood may transfer its weight in Europe to Paris, especially if the political authority there believes that Muslims representative in France (namely, UIOF) is welcomed.