Logo of the AEL
The Arab European League or AEL is an Pan-Arabist organization in Belgium and the Netherlands.
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AEL was founded and is led by Dyab Abou Jahjah, a Lebanese-born Shi'a Muslim living in Belgium. Jahjah, a former member of Hizbullah, left Lebanon in 1991 to begin university studies in Belgium.
In Jul 2006, Abou Jahjah returned to Lebanon to join the battle against the Israeli defence Forces, as he felt he had the duty to protect his people. Before he left for Lebanon, he wrote a farewell message on the Arab European League website :
- "Some people call it a fight for god, some people call it a fight for mankind, in essence it is one and the same fight for freedom & justice."
AEL's creed can be described as Nasserite and Pan-Arabist. While not Islamist, and eschewing violence itself, the group is of an avowedly anti-Zionist nature, expresses support for the actions of Islamist resistance against the occupation of Iraq, approving the killings of coalition soldiers.
Salon.com reports that the group issued public approvals for the Sept 11, 2001 attacks and the organization's rallies have been reported by the Christian Science Monitor to end in chanting "jihad" & "Osama Bin Laden". However, the group's English-language website has been critical of Al-Qaeda, referring to the Sept 11 attacks as "horrifying" & condemning al-Qaeda for alleged terrorist acts committed in Jordan.
The AEL strives to develop an Arab Muslim communalist movement in Europe. The group participated in the federal elections in Belgium in 2003 under the umbrella RESIST with the PVDA (Workers Party Belgium, a Maoist political party). The party gained 0.15 percent in the election of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives and 0.27 percent in the Dutch electoral college of the Belgian Senate. These electoral results were too low to win a seat.
They also participated in the Flemish elections in 2004 under the denomination Moslim Democratische Partij (Muslim Democratic Party), reaching their highest share of votes (0.27 percent) in the province of Antwerp. This electoral result was too low to gain a seat in the Flemish Parliament.
Following the murder of a 27-year-old Belgian of North African descent by an alledgedly mentally ill native Belgian man in Antwerp in 2002, which led to racially influenced riots in the city, the Arab European League began patrolling the streets of Antwerp with video cameras to monitor police activity. The AEL claimed that Belgian police were engaging in a racist "manhunt" of the city's Moroccan youth and that many police officers sympathized with the racist political party Vlaams Blok. The AEL patrols were stopped after the Antwerp public prosecutor's office began an investigation into whether the activities violated Belgian laws against the organization of private militias. The court however decided on 31 May 2006 that the patrols were not enough to prosecute the organization. Three leaders of the AEL however will be tried for their leading role in the unrest and riots after the 2002 murder.
ControversiesThe organization has been accused of anti-semitism by an agency of the Belgian government .
Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt blamed the group for inciting violence during street riots in Antwerp in 2002 & criticized it for creating patrols to shadow policemen with video cameras to monitor acts of anti-Arab racism.
Salon.com states that an AEL official called for the death penalty for homosexuals prior to assuming a leadership position within the group. In 2003, the political party Agalev (currently known as Groen!) attempted to place posters in Antwerp of gay and lesbian couples kissing while Dressed in Islamic attire. The AEL considered it blasphemous and as an insult to Islam because according to them, the Qur'an explicitly forbids homosexuality.
One of the AEL cartoonsIn late Sept 2005, the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published several controversial Muhammad cartoons in which the prophet Muhammad was associated with terrorism. After Belgian and Dutch newspapers republished the cartoons & politicians defended the publication with the argument of free speech, both denouncing the protests of Muslims & the AEL, the AEL issued statements and posted cartoons on the subject of Holocaust denial on its web Pgs using the same argument of "free speech" and denouncing official protests against them in return. The cartoons were called anti-semitic and negationist by De Standaard, a Belgian newspaper. A Dutch pro-Israel organization "Center for Information & Documentation Israel" filed a formal complaint in Amsterdam against the AEL following the publication of the cartoons. In response to the charge, the AEL stated not to "endorse any anti-Semitic, homophobic or sexist stands. All we are trying to do is to confront Europe with its own hypocrisy using sarcasm and cartoons."
Links- International website of the AEL
- Murder prompts riots by Khaled Diab
- Arab pride on the streets of Antwerp by Khaled Diab
- Arab panthers and Flemish lions by Khaled Diab
- Interview with the founder of AEL.
- ^ 'Belgian Malcolm X' seeks office, Christian Science Monitor, 16 May 2003
- ^ [http://www.arabeuropean.org/article.php?ID=117 Abou Jahjah: The Homeland is calling]
- ^ Zionism is Racism: AhmadiNajad said it, but we mean it, AEL, 28 Oct,2005
- ^ AEL: every Dutch soldier's death is a victory, Expatica, 25 Oct 2004
- ^ The Arabian Panther, Salon.com, 14 Jun 2004
- ^ 'Belgian Malcolm X' seeks office, Christian Science Monitor, 16 May 2003
- ^ The Arab European League (AEL) condems rage in the west against Arabs and Muslims, announces picket 16 Sept to commemorate victims of terror, AEL, 13 Sept 2001
- ^ Self-Destruction: Mustafa Al Akkad killed by Al Qaida, AEL, 11 Nov 2005
- ^ Elections 2003 - List results - Chamber of Representatives - The Kingdom
- ^ Elections 2003 - List results - Senate - The Kingdom
- ^ Elections 2004 > Flemish Council
- ^ Arab murder sparks two days of riots in Antwerp, The Guardian, 28 Nov 2002
- ^ Court rules Vlaams Blok is racist, BBC News, 9 Nov, 2004
- ^ Arab murder sparks two days of riots in Antwerp, The Guardian, 28 Nov 2002, & Arab racist sparked riot in Antwerp, say Belgians, The Telegraph, 29 Nov 2002
- ^ AEL geen privé-militie (AEL not a private militia), De Standaard, 1 Jun 2006.
- ^ AEL geen privé-militie (AEL not a private militia), De Standaard, 1 Jun 2006.
- ^ The Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism & Racism
- ^ Arab racist sparked riot in Antwerp, say Belgians, The Telegraph, 29 Nov 2002
- ^ Arab murder sparks two days of riots in Antwerp, The Guardian, 28 Nov 2002
- ^ The Arabian Panther, Salon.com, 14 Jun 2004
- ^ (Dutch)AEL boos over 'homo-affiche' Vlaamse Groenen] ("AEL angry about 'gay poster' Flemish Greens"), Kenniscentrum lesbisch en homo-emancipatiebeleid (Knowledge Centre lesbian and homo emancipation policies), citing from newspaper De Telegraaf 9 Sept 2003
- ^ (Dutch)AEL spot met holocaust ("AEL ridicules holocaust"), De Standaard, 6 Feb 2006
- ^ Muslim European group posts anti-Semitic cartoons, European Jewish Press, 6 Feb 2006
- ^ Important points on the Cartoon riot, AEL, 7 Feb 2006
Related articles - Politics of Belgium, European politics, Arab nationalism
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- This page was last modified by Admin. Previous modification to this article was done on 17:44, 17 Nov 2006 by Wikipedia user B-rat. Based on work by Wikipedia user(s) Vuolo, CmdrObot, ActiveSelective, Sijo Ripa, GCarty, 1652186, Intangible, LucVerhelst, Mikkalai, OrphanBot, RedHotHeat, Tasc, Marcika, Dtasripin, Pierremenard, Mike Serfas, Jacoplane, RoLeoVers, Humus sapiens, Fongs, Moondust, Pylambert, Rune X2, Lenthe, Lectonar, Man vyi, SimonP, The PNM and Donarreiskoffer and Anonymous user(s) of Wikipedia. Click here to view authors profile Pub date - 2009-05-15 11:21:17
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Arab European League - tutorial aa15699
