Insight into Qatari backing of Brotherhood in France

There are two categories of Muslim Brotherhood members in France. The first category contains the pioneers. These pioneers maintain strong ties with the mother organization at its home country. They play important roles in raising funds, organizing events and putting pressure on governments to achieve the objectives of the organization.

The second category contains the entities that act as a link between the mother organization and its branches in Europe. These entities include organizations that campaign against the Egyptian government, such as the International Alliance for Egyptians Abroad and others.

The Brotherhood in France is about a complicated institution that contains members who are linked to each other in an informal manner. These members have one common ideology. This makes it difficult for the Brotherhood to be weakened.

Qatar offers support to the Muslim community in France, especially the members of the Muslim Brotherhood. Doha views the Brotherhood as a tool for controlling the Muslim community as a whole.

Qatar has been working hard to draw Muslims living in the French suburbs into its sphere of influence. To do this, it founded the Suburbs Fund in 2012.

It specified a huge amount of money to the fund. It said the fund aims to get youths in these suburbs out of their state of alienation.

Nonetheless, the fund is stirring up debates among the French elite, especially on the motivations behind founding it. Those who are familiar with Qatar know for sure that the fund only aims to strengthen Doha's grip on the Muslims of France. It only wants to use them to serve its own interests.

In October 2008, the National Council, the lower house of the French parliament, organized a day for the teaching of Arabic and the Arabic culture. The French minister of education was invited to the event.

In early 2009, Qatar established the Union for the Mediterranean with the aim of gathering the Muslims of France under one umbrella. To achieve the objectives of the union, Qatar enlisted support from a woman who worked as an advisor for the French interior minister who was closely linked to the Qatari ambassador in Paris.

Qatar also drew the officials of the Union of Islamic Organizations of France to the new union. The French Interior Ministry considered the union as an important representative of the French Council of the Muslim Faith.

The Paris Mosque, which is linked to Algeria, was also the target of Qatari attempts for control. Qatar Charity donated 2 million Euros to the mosque in 2009.

In 2012, the French left came to power. Then interior minister Manuel Valls had strong ties with the Qataris. Nevertheless, some officials close to the French prime minister viewed growing Qatari influence among the Muslims of France with suspicion.

Qatar is obsessed with the construction of mosques. A few years ago, a Qatari businessman worked hard to attract charismatic European Muslims to him. These Muslims included Tariq Ramadan.

Ramadan was not the only European Muslim to contribute to advancing the Qatari agenda in Europe.

Some of the institutions in Paris are backed by Qatar, including the Arab World Institute. The Muslim Students' Association in France, which organizes cultural events in all French cities, is also backed by Qatar. The association wraps up its events in December every year with a session on the intellectual heritage of its founder Mohamed Hamidallah (1908 – 2002).

Youth movements are most active in the French west, especially in the cities of Bordeaux and Nantes. They are also active in the northern part of the European state.

The Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe organizes the continent's largest forum. This event is usually dedicated for supporting the Muslim Brotherhood in the countries where it is organized.

The Muslim Brotherhood acts under the umbrella of the Federation of Islamic Organizations. In Switzerland, it acts under the umbrella of the Swiss Muslims' League which organized the forum.

The forum is supervised by Libyan national Emad al-Banani. Al-Banani is the brains of the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe.

Europe falls at the heart of Muslim Brotherhood plans. Documents seized by the CIA at the house of Brotherhood leader Youssef Nada shed light on these plans which focus on increasing Muslim migration to Europe and also marriage to European women. The plans also depend on spreading Islam among the Europeans.

The Brotherhood uses its affiliate organizations and forums as tools in implementing these plans.